Perth Voice Interactive

AFTER expressing “disappointment” over the small size of their payrise this year, Stirling councillors have voted to grant themselves superannuation and to bat away a staff recommendation to trim their IT expenses.

The WA Salaries and Allowances Tribunal is in charge of setting pay rates, and increased councillor pay by 1.5 per cent this year.

At a big council like Stirling that bumps the mayor’s allowance up to $93,380 plus meeting attendance fees of $48,704, and councillors are now on $32,960 a year, and claim around $10,000 in other benefits. 

But Stirling councillors weren’t happy with such a modest pay bump, and at their June 20 meeting all 15 councillors voted to write to local government minister John Carey “to express disappointment with the 1.5 per cent increase to elected member fees”. 

Cr Elizabeth Re said given the number of hours a conscientious councillor put in, “we’re still only working for half a cent an hour if you’re doing your job”.

At the July 4 meeting they voted to make themselves “employees” for pay purposes. 

It’s allowed under a provision in superannuation law that is rarely used because it also triggers a rule that any non-cash benefits attract fringe benefits tax at a hefty 47 per cent tax rate.

“For these reasons, local governments in Australia typically do not pursue this course of action,” states a 2021 report from the WA Local Government Association. 

Mayor Mark Irwin said Stirling was the first council to do this in WA, and would push for changes in state law to make super payments standard for councils. 

Cr David Lagan he’d heard at a recent WALGA conference: “For many young mothers they would never stand for council if they were not also getting the same remuneration support that all workers get in our Australian work environment.”

Stirling has not yet calculated how much this would cost, with a staff report saying that’ll be considered in the next budget.

At their June meeting councillors also voted to maintain their annual Information and Communication Technology allowance at the $3500 maximum set by the Salaries and Allowances Tribunal, despite a staff recommendation to trim it back to $2350.

Staff had estimated councillors’ phone contracts cost them $89 a month, internet costs were $85 and electricity $248 per year.

But Stirling told the Voice that councillors had recently advised their annual electricity expenses to do their job were around quadruple at $868, while phone and internet services were each roughly $200 more each year.

Maximum

Their iPhone, iPad, laptop, and printer are provided by the council.

This year the salaries tribunal made clear councillors weren’t supposed to get both the maximum allowance on top of being provided free devices. 

The SAT’s 2023 determination states: “The Tribunal’s intention is for the maximum annual allowance to cover the cost of providing ICT hardware and equipment. It is not the intention for the allowance to be paid in addition to providing equipment and hardware.”

SAT acting executive officer Luke Cullen clarified that “councils can provide equipment within the set allowance, but the costs should be covered by the allowance”.

However he said if equipment such as phones and iPads were still retained as council assets rather than given to councillors, their costs wouldn’t be picked up by the allowance.

Stirling councillors get a pretty good deal if they want to buy ‘old’ equipment: They’re given a new iPhone and iPad every two years, and a new laptop and printer every four years, and can buy any piece of gear for $1 apiece at the end of each two or four year period.

Last financial year Stirling councillors were paid about $160,000 in benefits between the allowances for phones, furniture, travel and conferences, plus about $560,000 in regular pay. 

 by DAVID BELL

REVISIONS to a hotly criticised mixed-use development in Coolbinia have not appeased locals or Stirling councillors, who have recommended the state Development Assessment Panel reject the latest designs.

Willing Property wants to build 33 residences plus shops, a cafe and a bar at the corner of Adair Parade and Walcott Street. 

The five-storey project has not been welcomed by a large majority of neighbours in the low-lying, largely residential surrounds (Voice, April 1, 2023).

In March the DAP deferred initial plans, unsatisfied with the applicant’s approach to the parking setup, the way units would overlook houses to the south, and the plan to truck in commercial goods for the shops and collect rubbish from a narrow rear laneway lined by residences.

The revised plans remove some first floor balconies to reduce overlook, add more parking for shop staff, and relocate the deliveries and waste collection from the laneway to Adair Parade and Walcott Street. 

“The amended proposal represents an exceptionally high quality development that will make a positive contribution to the amenity of the locality,” the new proposal states.

But at the July 4 Stirling council meeting it was clear that opponents were not placated by the changes as one resident after another got up to condemn the plans. 

Among concerns such as road safety, the biggest sticking point was still the five storeys. 

“The community and council’s concerns have not been addressed with the latest amended plans,” resident Julianne Poland says. 

“The plans have not changed in regards to height or overdevelopment, with the amount of apartments, and the lack of parking.” 

The usual guidelines call for three storeys. Willing Property reckons that given the “excellent design, along with the provision of high quality public spaces… and a mix of land uses”, they qualify for two bonus storeys.

Stirling planning staff are still not entirely satisfied with the revised plans, recommending the DAP defer the decision until a road safety audit can be conducted to assess any safety risks from having more traffic going in and out of that corner. 

But Stirling’s staff do think five storeys is reasonable, putting them at odds with their councillors and most locals.

At the July 4 meeting councillors voted not to endorse the staff recommendation, and will put an alternative recommendation in front of the DAP to “refuse” the plans instead of another deferral.

 by DAVID BELL

WOMEN’S FIFA is about to kick off in Perth, and humble Dorrien Gardens has been transformed into a training venue to host world class players practicing for their matches.

Tucked away in a West Perth pocket, Dorrien Garden soccer grounds got $410,000 in upgrades to bring it up to international training standards.

To roll out a welcome wall, local artists Seantelle Walsh and Sioux Tempestt were commissioned by Tourism WA and Vincent council to paint a mammoth 80-metre long mural along the park’s entry. 

They led more than 70 locals including aspiring female players from Perth Soccer Club to complete the mural at a community painting day.

Their design was based on FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 theme “Beyond Greatness”, and the artists say the mural’s intended to celebrate women in sport, multiculturalism and inclusion.

The matches themselves will be held nearby at HBF Stadium, and are the most prestigious international soccer event held at the venue yet.

For the past year in the leadup to the matches the historic stadium’s been undergoing extensive upgrades, with the state government putting in $35m to bring it up to acceptable international standards to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The stadium (previously known as Perth Oval and rectangularised in 2004) can fit up to 20,500 people. 

It has hosted very few international matches, but came close to capacity in 2015 when 19,495 people nearly filled the stands for a World Cup qualifier match where Australia beat Bangladesh 5-0. 

It was a far better show than a previous international match in 1927, when WA’s state players lost 11-3 to a team from Czechoslovakia called the Bohemians. Following their Australia-wide tour the Bohemians were awarded two kangaroos which they donated to the Perth Zoo. 

The team still exists, and still have a kangaroo on their logo commemorating their time down under. The matches start July 22 when Denmark plays China.

by DAVID BELL

RATES bills in Stirling will go up around $45 for most property owners this year, kept at a “modest” rate by the “difficult decision” to put big infrastructure projects on hold, mayor Mark Irwin says.

One councillor, Elizabeth Re, voted against the budget, concerned that too much work was being put on hold like much-needed maintenance at ageing community buildings. 

Rates are based on a percentage of how much Landgate thinks your property would be worth rented out. That’s assessed every three years, and as this was a valuation year most people would see rates go up as their rental values likely increased.

The council lowered the rate-in-the-dollar it usually takes to compensate for the revaluation, but even so the average rates will rise about 3.24 per cent.

“In the past financial year, we made the difficult decision to put several key infrastructure projects on hold while the economy experienced intense inflation and astronomical building and construction costs,” Mr Irwin said in his budget statement.

Invest

“Putting these projects on hold and carefully managing the budget enabled us to be in a position to invest reserve funds into several critically important projects without the need for debt.”

Some projects will go ahead in stages, meaning not all of the cash has to be collected this year.

“Staged improvements at Terry Tyzack Aquatic Centre will continue and be delivered in time for summer, the Hamersley Public Golf Course pavilion and driving range will go out to tender, and works will begin on the renewal of the Recycling Centre Balcatta’s waste drop-off and transfer station.”

Cr Re voted against the budget, saying they’d left out funding for a lot of work on their old buildings that had been long-neglected.

Using one sporting club in her Doubleview ward as an example, Cr Re said, “Doubleview Bowling Club is 62 years old and it’s getting older by the minute,” and had been neglected so long in previous years that its ceiling collapsed, then they only got a “bandaid” solution.

“Some of the properties we have had issues for years and years” and the budget “is not addressing some of the issues we’ve got in some of our buildings”, she said, adding the distribution of cash between different wards didn’t seem even.

Mr Irwin tallied the budget vote, noting “all councillors voting for, except Cr Re, who is voting against the budget” and joked there would now be “only half the money to Doubleview this year”.

This prompted a glare and a headshake from Cr Re.

by DAVID BELL

OPPONENTS of a phone tower being installed at Britannia Reserve suspect consultation was a sham after noticing trees next to the site were stripped of their branches even before Vincent council approved the project. 

In June councillors voted to lease out part of the park to Optus, charging $48,000 a year for 140sqm of space for the 38m tower, which would also host Telstra and Vodafone antennas. 

A petition against the plan with 28 signatures had earlier been submitted, along with 22 individual submissions opposing the location. Eight submissions were supportive, largely based on Mount Hawthorn suffering poor mobile coverage, and concerns a location being used temporarily on Lynton Street is closer to houses. 

Lead petitioner Norelle O’Neill says the project felt like a fait accompli. 

Before the council voted on the item, she noticed the two nearest trees surrounding the proposed site had suffered “excessive lopping of limbs down one side only” – the side facing the tower site.

In a series of written questions Ms O’Neill pointed out “given the area has been incorrectly deemed by the City as ‘under-utilised’ the tree would not have been lopped for safety reasons but presumably for plans for the tower”.

She asked if the pruning had been done as a result of discussions with Optus or their contractor Indara.

Vincent’s response stated only that: “The trees surrounding the proposed lease area have been pruned by the City as part of the City’s ongoing maintenance operations”.

But we scouted out the site and could not find any other trees pruned so severely down one side. 

And delving into old plans submitted to the council in January, we found Optus’s draft site plans called for “trimming of existing trees” and “clearing [of] proposed installation area”, even drawing a line pointing to one of the denuded trees.

It seemed like a pretty big coincidence that they’d be stripped right where the compound would go, and down only one side, and just how the tower plans had proposed. We asked Vincent council whether the tower plans had any influence and are awaiting a response.

After receiving Vincent’s initial answer about ongoing “maintenance”, Ms O’Neille tells us: “I suspect the tree was damaged, at ratepayers expense, to accommodate the plans for the telecommunications tower weeks before the community consultation period even opened.”

Vincent council’s decision is still subject to the WA Planning Commission approving the plan. Given the fenced compound will take up 140sqm of park, the council decided to earmark the rental income for spending on other public open space projects.

Acting CEO John Corbellini told the Voice, “The City met with Indara and Optus at Britannia Reserve in late 2022 in an effort to find the best possible location for their proposed Telecommunications Tower.

“At that site meeting, City officers noted that around the Britannia Reserve bike pump track there was a dead tree and a need for many of the larger trees in the area to be pruned.

“Given the site is not highly visible, it had been a number of years since the trees in this area had been serviced.

“City officers then carried out removal of the dead tree and pruning of the large trees in the area, including over and around the bike pump track and along the boundary of the Floreat Athena leased area.”

by DAVID BELL

THE FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 takes place in cities across Australia and New Zealand in July and August 2023, and the Perth matches will be played at HBF Park in Vincent. Inspired by the upcoming competition, the Vincent Local History Centre has delved into the history of ‘the beautiful game’ in the area. 

The Vincent connection to soccer in Western Australia goes right back to its roots.

While soccer was played in Victoria and New South Wales from the 1880s, its popularity in Western Australia dated back to the gold rushes of the 1890s. 

In 1896, Perth’s first official organised game of soccer (then called British Football or Association Football) took place in Hyde Park. 

While there were no photos of the game, the results were recorded in the local papers and documented by soccer historian Richard Kreider in his comprehensive history of the game in Western Australia called Paddocks to Pitches. 

Early soccer games were played all over Perth including at Weld Square, Loton Paddock ‚Äì which is now known as Perth Rectangular Stadium (HBF Park), the Esplanade Reserve, Wellington Square, Russell Square, the WACA grounds, as well as further afield in Fremantle and Cottesloe. 

The most prestigious prize in early WA soccer was the Charity Cup first played at Loton Paddock in East Perth in September 1903. 

By 1910, the popularity of Association Football had grown with leagues on the Goldfields and other country areas.

In Perth, new teams such as Caledonians and Thistle United were established. These teams reflected the British or Scottish origins of their players. 

The influential Burt family were among the early administrators and players of what was then known as the WA British Football Association. 

By 1914, there were about 80 senior, junior and school clubs affiliated with the association. 

World War I delivered a shattering blow to the sport which, like many amateur sports, suffered heavy losses of players, administrators and supporters. 

Soccer rebounded in the 1920s as it was boosted by visiting international teams including a Chinese soccer team which played Western Australia in June 1927. 

The team won two of the three games with local newspapers reporting that the visit had been a “sporting and diplomatic success and a great boost to the local game” (The Western Mail, 23 June 1927). 

New teams sprang up including the North Perth Soccer Club, which was established in 1924 and used Woodville Reserve as its home turf. 

While the club had some success in the 1920s, it was not until the post-war period when it became a dominant force in local soccer producing a slew of state players. 

Another early soccer team connected to the Vincent area were the Maccabeans, which were based at Menzies Park, Mt Hawthorn. 

Formed in the 1930s, many of the team’s players came from Highgate and North Perth’s strong Jewish community. 

Early players included Jack and Leon Segal, and Menahem Mirimowitch who came to Perth in 1939 with a touring Palestinian soccer team which became stranded in Australia at the outbreak of World War II.

This early history of soccer laid the foundations for rapid growth of teams and popularity of the sport spurred by the post-war influx of European migrants.