FINALLY a little good news for Brookman Street, with a new owner starting restorations on the badly dilapidated old house at number 4. The area, along with nearby Moir Street is heritage-listed as “conservation essential,” as it’s a one-of-a-kind precinct of affordable housing from the late 19th century. The previous owner of number 4, Norman…

THE Film and Television Institute is offering a lifeline to WA games developers following the disappearance of state and federal funding. The FTI will allow gamers to apply for funding of up to $10,000 through its members’ production fund: previously the cash was available only to film-makers. WA developers were left high and dry this…

IT’S taken many months riding around the streets of North Perth but the Houses of 6006 project is complete. Local photographer Brad Serls set out to the capture the houses of his neighbourhood, exploring every street and right of way of North Perth (“Long live 6006,” Perth Voice, June 16, 2014).  Sometimes it’s a story…

DIANELLA’S “Disco House” is to be added to Stirling’s heritage inventory. Officially known as Marsala House, it is the youngest home on the WA heritage register and a classic example of brutalist-style architecture. Built in 1976 for the Marsala family, the split-level home has a Las Vegas-inspired dance floor. The house was designed by highly-regarded…

THE sign says “tree protection zone” but that hasn’t stopped Bayswater council cutting down trees within it. Greg Smith lives next door to Halliday Park and has watched one tree after another disappear, and he now uses the council’s motto “the garden city” only in jest. He says to erect a sign declaring a tree…

CHRISSIE PARROTT ARTS in Maylands is closing. For three years the not-for-profit performing arts space has showcased more than 2000 emerging artists in dance, theatre, art and music from its 400sqm venue. Owner Chrissie Parrott decided to close after failing to secure government funding. “We thought we were pretty much guaranteed the money but it…

BAYSWATER is going green with a new city-wide bike plan. The council will spend $100,000 a year on a series of improvements recommended by an independent bike plan that it commissioned. Works will include resurfacing, direction signs and new cycle lanes in areas including Riverside Gardens and Eighth Avenue. Proposed bicycle boulevards will link the…

THE WA planning commission has openly conceded “unintended and undesirable” developments are happening because of its multiple dwellings rules. When the new rules came through they allowed developers to build units in lower density areas like residential Mt Hawthorn and some old areas around Hyde Park (R30 for the zoning buffs). The changes came about…

THE big bottleyard apartment project on Palmerston Street has been approved. The 125-unit project on the sandy site exceeds the usual three storeys allowed in the area, but the developer was granted six for good design and environmental credentials with one of the largest residential solar arrays in the hemisphere. Handle Property Group chief Peter…

AUSTRALIA’S auditor-general is investigating a $50 million crime prevention fund overseen by federal justice minister Michael Keenan, which allocated $550,000 to Mr Keenan’s own seat of Stirling. The Stirling grant—which paid for 33 CCTV cameras—was one of the biggest single allocations in the country from the “Safer Streets” fund. Ninety per cent of grants approved…