Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi has slammed premier Colin Barnett’s handling of council mergers as “poorly managed, disappointing and inconsistent”. And she implies the premier is basing his decisions on what’s in the Liberal Party’s best political interests, rather than sound planning. Her withering criticism follows Mr Barnett’s support for amalgamating all of Vincent with…

Heritage buff Richard Offen is optimistic WA won’t repeat the disasters of the 1960s and 1980s when the state governments of the day oversaw the demolition of many of Perth’s historic buildings. As part of this weekend’s Perth Heritage Days, Mr Offen is presenting a talk titled “Don’t let it happen again,” reflecting on the…

Bayswater city councillor Chris Cornish wants heritage guidelines established for Mt Lawley, which is expected to be folded into the council under the Barnett government’s council mergers. Cr Cornish has tabled a motion for Baysy to emulate Stirling city council’s heritage program and incorporate official heritage rules into its town planning scheme. It’s seen as…

Interminable internet speeds, crackly phone lines and stuttering VOIP feeds are plaguing Bedford locals relying on an ageing copper network. Shaftesbury Avenue resident Annette Park says the internet is hopelessly slow in her area and internet service providers have told her little can be done because the copper is so corroded. Her phone frequently drops…

For more than a decade Benedict Moleta has been plugging away, working on his music. There was a time when the North Perth muso had dreams of fame, sending out press releases nationwide and gigging hard at pubs just about every weekend in a bid to break the big time. With his eighth album The…

Manna Inc must move its free food service from Weld Square within 12 months following a decision by Vincent council, but founder Bev Lowe says she’s pleased the council will help the group find a new venue. “This was a wonderful outcome for us, for them to give us an extended time in the park…

The Beaufort Street festival is back for its fourth year Saturday November 16. The community-driven event attracted more than 100,000 to the shopping strip last year. Along with a return of the hugely popular dog show (there are categories for puppies, cutest dogs, best costumes and meanest/ugliest pooches), there’s music all day across four stages,…

Following low voter turnouts across WA’s council elections last month, Vincent mayor John Carey wants compulsory voting introduced. “Often people are most passionate about local issues, and given this interest in people’s daily lives it seems bizarre to me that we have compulsory voting in state and federal regimes but we don’t for local,” he…

A poor turnout for the first-ever Pride parade to be held during the day has been blamed on the midday heat. Ben Bowtell is musical director of Wasamba, who marched on the day. He says the band will carefully consider whether it’ll march in future daytime events. “We have to run it by our members…

December 1 will see smoking banned in Hay and Murray Street malls and in Forrest Place. Perth city council’s smoking ban has been in the pipelines for about a year. In the first six months puffers will be issued cautions, then from June 1 they’ll be fined. “Our hope is that people will consider the…