Perth Voice Interactive

CHICKENS, bees and pigeons will soon be legal in Vincent.

Until now backyard poultry has been banned in the southern half of Vincent, and nearly-impossible to keep in the northern half given setback rules meant most blocks could never fit a chook.

Twelve-year-old Piper from Leederville spoke at her first council meeting on December 13 and told councillors: “I want the bylaw for chickens to pass because I want to be able to raise those chickens from chicks and to be able to have that responsibility when I get older… I would also like to be able to have eggs from those chickens and be able to collect them every day after school and be able to cook with them.”

It’s been a years-long process to get the Animal Local Law changed, requiring lengthy public advertising and liaising with the WA government. 

Mayor Emma Cole said a lot of Vincent folk are interested in sustainable living and a few have “probably secretly been harbouring chickens in their backyard wondering whether there’ll be an inspection coming their way.

“Welcome to the chickens and goodbye to the prohibited-chicken-area zone. It’s about time, and we’re very excited to reach this point.

“Giving people more autonomy to have chickens and bees fits with our sustainability ethos in Vincent.

“Chickens are becoming increasingly popular in our inner city suburbs, with people wanting to raise chickens to take on the vegetable scraps and in turn, lay fresh eggs each day. Beehives and DIY bee homes are also on the rise, as people understand the positive impact that bees have on our local biodiversity and the health benefits of honey.”

Now up to six chickens or pigeons will be allowed in enclosed pens, as long as residents ensure there’s no public health nuisance. Beekeepers can have two hives on a property of 400sqm or less, and up to four hives on bigger properties.

The new rules require a final sign-off by a parliamentary committee before they’re officially in force, but Ms Cole said “if some chickens appear over Christmas, I don’t know that there’ll be too much care about that”.

by DAVID BELL

CELSIUS Property Group’s 13-storey apartment proposal for North Perth has been unanimously rejected by the Joint Development Assessment Panel.

CPG’s 373 Fitzgerald Street project, with two towers measuring 13 and 11 storeys, was opposed by a heavy majority of people living nearby.

Vincent council’s planning staff also opposed the plan, saying it was way out of line with the council’s own usual maximum height of six storeys in that area, and its bulk and scale would make for “a significant negative impact” in amenity to nearby homes.

But the decision rested with the state government’s JDAP, where state-appointed members can outvote elected councils and have discretion to overrule local planning laws if they think it’ll make for a good outcome.

CPG director Andrew Peirce argued at the JDAP meeting their tower design was a better outcome than something shorter and squatter that might be closer to the usual height limit, but the JDAP voted 5-0 to reject the designs. 

Vincent mayor Emma Cole attended the JDAP meeting to speak against the development, saying that compared to the council’s 2018 policy this development requested too much height, would provide too much overshadowing of neighbours, and offered too little in the way of setbacks from the edge of the block.

After the decision Ms Cole told the Voice: “The issue was really that the extent of discretion sought was really significant, and well beyond what we’d entertain in the [planning] scheme,” and had it been approved the decision would undermine the council’s local planning framework.

North Perth resident Neil Stacey lives across the laneway from the would-be apartment block, and was one of many locals who opposed the plans. After two years of this development looming, he says this week “people are elated. We’ve had people bloody jumping for joy.

Community power

“I think people were a bit wary of the process. But to the credit of the council and the planning department and JDAP, they really, I think, made the right decision.

“The public are not anti-development… we just want a quality build in the correct zoning, that’s all we ask.” 

Ashlee La Fontaine, who organised October’s public meeting opposing the plans, said the outcome “reflected the power of a community uniting to voice their concerns about a development that was non-conforming in height, bulk, scale, setback, as well as traffic and parking.”

Resident Emily Bird said “we can safely say that over 70 per cent of the North Perth community – including myself – are delighted with this result.

“We do know the battle is not yet over but there is a determined and cohesive mood within the community to continue fighting for our much-loved suburb to retain its diversity, character and history whilst being open to appropriate and sensitive change in response to increasing population needs.”

Celsius’ managing director Richard Pappas said: “We are disappointed in the decision which we feel has resulted in a very significant missed opportunity to deliver a landmark mixed- use development providing considerable housing choice and significant high quality retail into the North Perth town centre. 

“We appreciate the tremendous effort of our team and would like to thank the hundreds of supporters of our proposal.”

All up 163 submissions supported the project, and 304 were opposed.  The proportion of opponents grew the closer people lived to the site, as Ms Fontaine pointed out: “70 per cent of 

the submissions received from residents within North Perth objected to the development. Within a 200m radius of the site, three quarters of submissions objected.”

There’s no word yet on what Celsius’ future plans are for the block. 

by DAVID BELL

WHILE the new animal rules are a win for the birds and the bees, the new law is bad news for cat-lovers who walk leashed cats in local parks.

Under these changes cats will be banned altogether from Britannia Road Reserve, Smiths Lake, Robertson Park, Banks Reserve, and Hyde Park.

Cat-ally Sam Fitzpatrick wrote to Vincent: “I am concerned about the overreach of local government wanting to fine people who want to walk their cat on a lead in Hyde Park.

“I find this change in local laws an egregious change in policy and this demonstrates that the city does not understand the city’s planning implications of increased housing density attributable for such needs to safely walk a cat in public open space given the shift toward smaller dwellings and no backyards for cat exercise. 

“Not only does this affect the health and well-being of the city’s cats but their owner’s mental health.”

But a peculiarity of state law makes it tricky to ban free-roaming cats but allow them on a leash in those areas. 

The WA Cat Act, which empowers the council to enforce its cat rules, doesn’t distinguish between a free-roaming cat and one on a leash the same way the WA Dog Act does. 

Any council policy allowing leashed cats but banning freewheeling felines would risk getting rejected by parliament for being incompatible with state law.

by DAVID BELL

A RULE requiring councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day has been quashed.

On December 13 Vincent council unanimously voted to write to the new federal Labor government asking for the former Liberal government’s rule requiring all councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26 be quashed.

Vincent mayor Emma Cole noted increasing discomfort among local Indigenous representatives about January 26; the Noongar Choir no longer attends, and this year they haven’t found  a traditional owner to deliver a Welcome to Country.

Vincent’s unsent letter would have joined Victorian councils Darebin and Yarra who had been lobbying Labor since May to undo the rule, which was brought in after Fremantle council moved its ceremonies off January 26 in 2017.

Ms Cole said at the council meeting they didn’t expect a swift answer, as the federal government would be prioritising an Indigenous Voice to Parliament group before addressing Australia Day.

But by December 16 Labor’s citizenship minister Andrew Giles proclaimed the old rule would be stricken. 

Mr Giles issued a statement announcing “a pragmatic change in line with the government’s commitment to efficient processing of citizenship applications and timely ceremonies for new citizens”.

The statement didn’t mention the controversy around January 26, instead saying “a number of councils have indicated they will move to no longer hold a citizenship ceremony on Australia Day due to higher operational costs involved in hosting ceremonies on a public holiday”.

The ceremonies must run on any day between January 23 to January 29.  Council can hold others during the year as long as they comply with that rule.

Ms Cole says it’s “a welcome change, and we appreciate that they’ve given local governments the ability to make that choice, have that flexibility, and reflect the wishes of our elders’ group and our Reconciliation Action Plan group,” who’d both supported the motion.

Vincent’s now looking at instead holding its citizenship ceremony on the evening of Friday January 27 in 2023, and hoping it’ll be easier to find a traditional owner to hold the Welcome to Country on that date.

by DAVID BELL

FROM the archives of Vincent Local History Centre, this week we have a tale of how migrants made their mark on Christmas traditions across the 20th century.

THE Australian Christmas fare has come a long way from the northern hemisphere winter traditions of roast meats and plum puddings.  

While some people cling steadfast to the tradition of brandy and pudding at Christmas, migrants from around the world have brought different Christmas food traditions to our Christmas tables.  

Post-war Italian migrants introduced us to the Italian Christmas sweet bread called panettone (translates to big bread), which is now everywhere in local supermarkets from early November to January.  

Not so long ago, it was only available in Perth in Italian migrant homes or imported by speciality Italian grocers such as the Re Store or Pisconeri Brothers. 

Pisconeri Wholesalers, currently in Mt Hawthorn, had its roots in an old family business based in Lake and Newcastle Streets, Perth from the early 1950s.  

Established by two Calabrian-born migrants and their wives and families, it was originally a grocery store that expanded into a cafe serving coffee and traditional Italian ice cream and frozen granita. 

The cafe was open seven days a week and quickly became a major drawcard for many Italian migrants who lived and worked in the area in the 1950s and 1960s.  

Men would gather at the bar in the evenings to socialise, drink coffee and play cards.

Italian families would frequent the cafe for ice cream and coffee on Sunday mornings after mass at St Brigid’s church.  

In the 1950s, the Pisconeri family turned their hand to making ice cream or gelato which they sold under the label of Crest Ice Cream from their wholesale shop on Lake Street across the road from their retail store. 

The late Maria Pisconeri, one of the original proprietors, recalled: “We sold gelati, coffee and cakes. My husband and brother-in-law went to get the machines – they were Italian machines. We used to make gelati and had a factory where we made cones, confetti and roasted coffee. There was no other bar like it – the only other one was in Fremantle. We were so busy with so many people.”

At Christmas time, the Pisconeri family business promoted their ice creams with free giveaways to locals dispensed by Santa (local 6IX radio announcer John Fryer) on the back of a ute outside their shop and factory.   

Albert Pisconeri, son of the original owners who is still involved in the family business Pisconeri Wholesalers, recalled: “One of the announcers from 6IX (John Fryer) jumped on this little van with balloons and there he was waving to the crowd. He would be driven to the front of the coffee bar and they’d park the van. Dressed as Father Christmas, he would offer people ice creams and lollies from the back of the truck. Then there’s a shot of all the people waiting for their turn, for their ice creams.”

While the Pisconeri family business no longer makes or sells gelato, they have continued importing a wide range of Italian food products, including the now ubiquitous favourite Italian Christmas treat panettone.  

For more local stories and images of Christmas in Vincent, visit https://library.vincent. wa.gov.au/local-history-centre. aspx