PEOPLE who park in bays reserved for motorists with disabilities should be fined up to $3000 says Stirling city councillor Samantha Jenkinson. Cr Jenkinson is pleased the Barnett government is raising penalties for illegally parking in an ACROD bay but says the fines should be higher. “People do not realise the disruption they cause with…

STIRLING city council will continue to charge schools for using council reserves, despite a strong push from some councillors for the fee to be waived. Following an indexed three per cent increase, schools will be charged $65 for three hours or more and $32.50 for up to three hours. Cr David Michael says the charge…

THIS year’s WA tree climbing championships will be held in Hyde Park. Participants are usually arborists and tree surgeons decked out with full ropes and harness. Last year it was held in Araluen Botanic Park and before that in King’s Park, but organisers Tree Climbing WA reckon Hyde Park’s towering mature trees make it ideal.…

RECOMMENDATIONS on councils mergers for Perth, Vincent, Bayswater and Stirling are expected to be finished later this week. WA local government advisory board chair Mel Congerton says recommendations for most of Perth’s metro councils are nearly done. More work is needed on a merger plan that includes Melville and Cockburn, with knock-on impacts for Fremantle,…

PLANS for a $9 million development on Angove Street have been stymied by the Vincent development assessment panel, which wants a smaller building. Owner Luke Saraceni watched from the public gallery as the DAP deferred its decision, pending the submission of scaled down plans. It’s a smaller project than Mr Saraceni is used to dealing…

THE development assessment panel at Vincent is yet to refuse a project outright. DAPs feature two councillors and three paid, state-appointed experts and need a majority of three to approve an item. They must handle applications valued at more than $7million, while developers can choose between the DAP and the elected council if their development…

THE allegedly “green” wall in the Northbridge Piazza is ailing badly, turning yellowy brown even before the next scorching summer rolls through. It’s not predicted to survive. Built around 2009 all the original plants on the 8m wall were pulled out because they’d become less “leafy green” and resembled a gnarled, creepy hedge. In 2012…

A STRIP of historic William Street will be better protected under Perth city council’s new conservation area. The plan’s been eight years in the making, and intends to preserve the commercial streetscape built by the 1890s goldrush through to the early 1920s. The PCC says the area’s significant as “the home for successive waves of…

BAYSWATER calls itself “the garden city”. Cr Chris Cornish wants his council to live up to its moniker by increasing the municipality’s tree canopy. A recent study showed Bayswater council had the fourth worst coverage of trees in Perth, with just 13.2 per cent of the area boasting green canopies. Cr Cornish wants that improved…

POLICE have busted a suspected suburban drugs den in Bayswater. Suspicious residents contacted police after seeing vehicles visit a neighbour’s house at all hours of the day and night. Following surveillance, a 26-year old woman, two 29-year old men and a 33-year old man were charged with offences associated with the sale and supply of…