IT’S six months into Vincent council’s trial to abolish first hour-free parking, and small business owners are saying it’s had a brutal impact. Last year a majority of Vincent councillors voted to end the long-running first hour free parking in its main off-street carparks, and started charging $1 for the first hour and $3.20 for…

COOLBINIA residents are crossing their fingers the WA government’s Development Assessment Panel rejects plans for 33 units and six shops at the corner of Adair Parade and Walcott Street this week. The five-storey building will be the first of its stature in the low-lying, mostly residential area. The owner of the empty block, developer Willing…

AN unauthorised billboard in Stirling has neighbours grumbling after discovering the council wasn’t going to order its removal due to a technicality. The developers of the Adair Parade/Walcott Street block put up a massive sign spruiking their apartments, but did not get approval from Stirling council as required under local law.  Across the street in…

Support pours in for storytime drag queen DRAG Queen Storytime events at Maylands Library have been targeted by homophobic protest flyers. The events feature drag queens reading to children and parents, typically with themes of inclusion and self-acceptance.   Local drag queen Cougar Morrison says she was singled out in flyers which were posted in…

  DESPITE calls from wildlife experts to clamp down on cats in Kings Park and other nature areas, Perth council has decided against bringing in new rules to restrict roaming cats. A lot of councils have been trying to bring in rules to keep cats out of parks and bushland but they keep hitting stumbling blocks when…

TODAY, corner shops – also known as milk bars or delis – have all but vanished from our suburban streets. Before the advent of supermarkets in the 1950s and 1960s, corner shops were located on the corner of almost every street. They sold groceries such as fruit, vegetables, milk and newspapers.  From the 1930s, some…

Planning leaving no winners  A NEW three-storey housing block planned for 109 Palmerston Street has been approved by a split Vincent council vote, leaving some neighbours unhappy most of their property will be overshadowed in winter.  “It’s really overshadowing the whole block next door,” says Phillip Perroni, owner of two of the four villas his…

HOMEOWNERS who paid for underground power years ago have lost a bid to stop Vincent council double-dipping by forcing them to contribute to rolling it out across the rest of the city. In June 2022 councillors voted to add an extra 2.1 per cent to rates bills to help fund the planning of a Vincent-wide…

AFTER 23 years calling Halverson Hall home, Robertson Park Artists Studio has relocated to the North Perth Community Centre and redubbed themselves “The Farmer Street Studio”. Vincent council had been leasing them Halverson Hall in Robertson Park but the building’s in need of repairs and upgrades to make it universally accessible, so they’ve moved into…

REVISED plans for a locally loathed petrol station on Angove Street haven’t convinced the “Stop the Station” community group to drop their campaign. Nearby residents and Angove Street cafe strip users are chiefly concerned about the negative health effects of petrol emissions being so close to homes and alfresco areas (Voice, November 19, 2022). Vincent…