“NOISE and filth…six days a week”: many long-term Vincent residents are struggling with the WA government’s new turbo-charged housing density regime. Introduced in 2010, generous allowances for multiple dwellings has resulted in an unprecedented jump in applications from developers keen to knock down single houses in Vincent’s dormitory suburbs and build blocks of units. At…

Another company is planning to take a crack at redeveloping the old Pacific Motel site in Highgate. The abandoned motel, now demolished, was a magnet for graffiti and vagrants for years, but the state government’s development assessment panel this week approved a five-storey, 66-unit project for the site. Locals were concerned the building would overshadow…

Prince Lane’s spruce up is nearing completion, with artist Leanne Bray putting the final touches on a mural. Perth city council is spending $800,000 on the enhancement, including new granite kerbing, lighting, CCTV and art. It’s part of its ongoing laneway project that’s also seen Wolf, Howard and Grand lanes get hundreds of thousands of…

The new WA multicultural services centre may be named the “Nick Catania Wellness Centre”. Talks are underway between the multicultural service and the North Perth branch of Bendigo Bank’s North Perth community bank branch, which Mr Catania chairs. The Voice understands the WAMSC is keen to name the Farmer Street seniors centre after the former…

Kids in Vincent (along with mayor Alannah MacTiernan and the council’s Aboriginal consultant Ingrid Cummings) geared up for Naidoc Week by painting the new ping pong table at Weld Square with indigenous motifs this week. Weld Square, which Vincent council co-named Wongi Park (‘talking place’ in Nyungar), will host a Naidoc concert on Sunday featuring…

Bunnings has been granted retrospective approval for its Inglewood garden centre. The hardware giant has operated a garden centre without planning permission since 1994, infuriating locals who’ve long complained about traffic problems. Insufficient parking at the store, at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Beaufort Street, means customers frequently clog surrounding streets. Stirling city council…

Paddle steamer owner Chas Cox is offering a $50,000 spotter’s fee to anyone who can find a buyer for his vintage Decoy. Mr Cox has been trying to flog the Decoy for $1.8million for the last two years, but aside from a few casual inquiries from businessmen in China and an inspection by mining mogul…

A 61-YEAR-OLD woman was mugged by two young girls in Maylands on Monday night. The woman was leaving the toilets at The RISE on Eighth Avenue around 6.45pm when the girls, aged about 15 years old, pushed her to the ground and tried to snatch her bag. She managed to keep hold of it and…

Outlawing voyeuristic “creepshots” could kill public photography, Perth Centre for Photography lecturer Juha Tolonen warns. There’s been a recent backlash against sites posting pictures of women’s backsides taken without their knowledge, and Dr Tolonen worries legitimate photographers could get caught up in any attempts by authorities to crack down on the practice. He says they’re…

A new documentary shedding light on a secretive aspect of Perth’s involvement in World War II was launched this week. Seventy years ago the first “double sunrise” flights left Perth for Britain. With Australia’s delivery lines through Singapore cut off, the flights were a desperate attempt to re-establish contact with Europe, carrying top secret mail…