A volunteer group that helps people overcome narcotics addiction has been refused a discount on venue hire in Maylands. Bayswater city council is charging Narcotics Anonymous the full rack rate of $3120 for a three-day hire of the RISE for an August conference. Cr Graham Pittaway was unrepentant, saying the council was not a “bleeding…

A rehearsal studio in Mount Hawthorn has been given an eleventh hour stay of execution. Vincent staff wanted to close down Dream Studio on Oxford Street and had recommended councillors axe it. A staff report said the business doesn’t “protect and enhance the health, safety and general welfare of the city’s inhabitants”. It says there…

Tranby House on the Maylands foreshore is set to become a tourist attraction, with Captain Cook Cruises set to re-launch its river cruise to the site. Bayswater city council has voted to modify the new Tranby Jetty to accommodate larger commercial vessels, after the company expressed interest in making the heritage-listed house a stop-off point.…

An official report on the $544,000 rort at Stirling city council that triggered a former employee’s suicide is nowhere in sight three years after the investigation began. In 2010 a WA corruption and crime commission inquiry revealed collusion dating back to 2003. Investigators believed a former building manager had received kickbacks in return for guaranteeing…

A photo of dog poo has been handed to Vincent city councillors by a ratepayer deeply unhappy with the approval of a block of units and offices in North Perth The Albert North Perth—an eight-office, 11-unit project on Albert Street—was initially deferred when it went in front of council in December 2011. The WA heritage…

A paperwork snafu has seen trees outside the Albert North Perth development severely overpruned. Locals were concerned when they spotted the trees had been given a drastic haircut. Council CEO John Giorgi says it was a mistake that so much was cut off. Vincent had received a request “to cut back the trees from the…

Vincent city council has set aside $30,000 for on-road cafes after a successful trial. Councillor Dudley Maier nicked the idea from San Francisco and it’s been so successful outside Foam Coffee Bar on Oxford Street that neighbouring councils have been asking for tips. “It’s absolutely lovely… I have a wide demographic of people telling me…

Vincent city council is spooked by a raft of new density measures which will see 120sqm blocks appearing in its heritage-rich suburbs. Mayor Alannah MacTiernan warns the changes, imposed by the state government’s power planning mandarins, will be a huge threat to the area’s heritage streetscapes. They will allow owners of 240sqm blocks to sub-divide…

Vincent deputy mayor Warren McGrath isn’t ruling out a tilt at the top job. “I haven’t discounted it,” he says. An associate and state manager with Eco Logical Australia environmental consultants, he says he’d have to carefully consider his career and the best interests of the company before making a tilt. Cr McGrath says he’d…

From humble beginnings as a side-line project during uni, Mt Lawley based Jump Climb events management has picked up the handling of this year’s Pride festival. “Our first event was Coopers Barefoot Bowls in Mount Lawley,” Paul Fletcher chuckles. The company ran a few music shows at venues around Perth and music for Rottofest, then…