ALL councillors and staff should have mandatory police clearance, a working with children card, and undergo mandatory “safeguarding” training to prevent abuse and neglect, Stirling councillor Elizabeth Re reckons. Cr Re says the raft of measures is to “improve transparency and the culture across the organisation. “You’ve got to clean up the sector,” Cr Re…

BANKS Reserve could return to its traditional Noongar name “Warndoolier” after a prolonged renaming process.  This week Vincent councillors voted to ask the public whether to rename Banks Reserve entirely to Warndoolier or to use a dual-name. Back in 2012 a group of traditional owners, local elders and Noongar consultants agreed that the area was…

PERTH councillor Di Bain has resigned two months ahead of her term expiring.  Ms Bain was elected in 2020 with a strong showing in a crowded field, taking a council seat after coming in a close second in the lord mayoral race won by Basil Zempilas, who got 29.44 per cent of the vote to…

STIRLING council has voted to investigate a 12-month moratorium on developer contributions towards artwork or park upgrades. Mayor Mark Irwin penned the motion calling for the moratorium because he says developers are being put off by the cost of having to pay extras, including: • paying 1 per cent of the cost of a development…

STIRLING councillor Bianca Sandri’s early resignation has been confirmed with the Electoral Commission of WA announcing her Inglewood ward seat is up for grabs at the October 2023 election. We speculated Cr Sandri would likely step down when she took up her new role as planning director at Bayswater council, but didn’t hear back from…

PUBLIC art advocate Helen Curtis has called on Stirling council not to halt its ‘percent for art’ provision that requires developers to contribute to public artworks. Stirling council’s policy came into effect in January 2023. It applies to big developments worth more than $2 million and requires developers set aside 1 per cent of the…

THE City of Vincent is offering a helping hand for local pubs and restaurants wanting to go smoke-free. Vincent launched its Fresh Air – You’re Welcome: the Smoke-Free Town Centres project in November 2022 as an initiative of its Public Health Plan. As part of the project, parts of Mt Hawthorn, North Perth, Leederville, William…

MORE than 500 Vincent residents gathered at North Perth Common on August 12 to indulge in their love for native plants.  Due to the event’s growing popularity, the council revamped the event and ran two sessions so the shelves could be restocked. With 6000 plants available, patrons had a diverse selection to explore, including kangaroo…

A 30-YEAR journey to uncover the heroic deeds of his uncle and honour his father’s passionate search for the truth come to fruition for former WA premier Peter Dowding this week.  The South Fremantle resident and co-author Ken Spillman officially launch Secret Agent, Unsung Hero: The Valour of Bruce Dowding on Wednesday. The book tells…

Opinion by ANDREW SMITH, former mayor East Fremantle and democratic town planning expert WHEN former WA premier Mark McGowan retired without notice in May, he left a ‘landmine’ behind in WA’s town planning landscape.  This scrap of ordinance guarantees full-scale war in Perth and Fremantle ‘burbs, and while it’s the pollies who laid this trap…