SECURITY cameras are usually installed in hopes of identifying a felon by face, but a Voice reader in Mount Hawthorn has shared a tale of a bumcrack bandit.
“I was sitting down at my kitchen table talking to my wife and then we heard a noise and saw a shadow of a person going past our dining room window,” writes the reader, who asked to stay unnamed.
“I knew it wasn’t any of my family members as my oldest son had already left for work and the rest of my kids were getting ready for their day.
“So I raced to my back door and long and behold me, I see a tall numbskull with his butt crack showing jumping my two back fences.
“I yelled out to him, ‘what the feck are you doing?’ [and] copped a mouthful of abuse back.
“What the numbskull didn’t realize is that it was all caught on camera.
“The playback was a laugh and a half but the police found his stash and his shoes later that day that he had left behind.
“So just to let the numbskull know that if I see your butt crack again you maybe taking a nice long holiday at the Grey Bar Hotel.”
Our correspondent says “the police have kept the file open and I remember his face.
“These days it pays to have cameras up back and front – especially when you have a laneway at the back of your house.”
IF you have a variable rate mortgage, you are no doubt feeling the financial strain with some monthly payments doubling since the successive hikes in interest rates began this year.
With this in mind, the Voice is keeping it simple and low-cost this week with a food review of The Oxford 225.
A small, cute cafe in Leederville, it doesn’t claim to be anything it’s not and has a display cabinet with sandwiches, croissants, cakes, cookies and other treats.
With the weather warming up, I felt like a cold pressed juice. Unfortunately some listed on the menu weren’t available, but the lady behind the till was able to make me a carrot, apple and orange, which had a colourful hue and arrived in a heavy-set tumbler.
It had a nice froth on the top and a thick consistency (I’ve had loads that are too watery) and was very enjoyable. A good start.
It wasn’t long before the lady was back with my toasted sandwich with chicken and avocado ($20 total for large sandwich and drink).
The Turkish-style bread was really nice – light with a crunchy crust and plenty of flavour.
The chicken was good quality and tasted like it had been sliced off a fresh chook and not been sitting in the fridge for a while.
There was plenty of avocado on there too (with the rising cost of fruit and veg I’ve seen plenty of cafes skimp on avo these days, but Oxford 225 didn’t).
There was a small alfresco and seating inside, but I elected to sit at a table in the passageway off to the side; a cute little arbor that was festooned with lights and shady and cool.
I can imagine it would be a lovely atmospheric spot when the lights were on.
I noticed there were loads of photos of dogs on the wall in the passageway, and inside there was a display of doggie accessories you could buy like bow ties, snuffle mats and jackets.
It was a cute and unusual touch, and the lady behind the till said they belonged to a local business Heads down Tails up, which specialised in items that provided mental and physical stimulation for dogs.
I washed down my lunch with a lovely peppermint tea ($4.30 medium) and a choc chip cookie ($3).
Both hit the spot and were a nice coda to an enjoyable light lunch.
I couldn’t resist taking home two cute gingerbread men ($4.50 each) for my kids, who wolfed them down and said they were delicious with a nice spicy, gingery hit.
The Oxford 225 isn’t doing anything remarkable or outside the box, but it’s a safe pair of hands if you’re after a casual bite to eat in Leederville, or if you love dogs, or both.
THEY never enjoyed the global success of other English bands like Oasis, Blur and The Stone Roses in the 1990s, but The Charlatans had some killer tunes and hardcore indie and shoegaze fans regard them as being highly influential.
So when it was announced they were playing the Rosemount Hotel on their 30th anniversary tour, I jumped online and snapped up tickets.
A huge incentive was seeing them at the Rosemount – an intimate old-school venue in North Perth that holds just a few hundred folk.
With a massive steel H beam above the stage and pipes snaking across the ceiling, it had the air of a slightly shabby venue where you knew you’d get some raucous and honest rock ’n’ roll.
No corporate boxes or trays of dim sum here, gov’nor.
It was also an opportunity to get about as close as you could to The Charlatans, which seemed surreal given how big the Manchester band were at one point during the “baggy” scene and then through Brit Pop and Cool Britannia.
They had sold out their first night at the Rosemount, so a second gig was hastily arranged for the Sunday, and they were on stage sharp at 8.30pm with minimal fuss and pomp.
Charlatans’ charismatic frontman Tim Burgess still looked the part – svelte with a peroxide coconut hairdo, he was sporting an ironic Xmas jumper and still had that trademark infectious grin.
Throughout the night he was engaging and lively – jumping on top of the monitors, doing his cute little indie dance and interacting with fans in the audience.
At various points he took videos and photos of the audience, himself and the band using his mobile.
I don’t know if this was an ironic statement on the use of phones at gigs or just him documenting the performance, but I’ve never seen it done before and he certainly seemed to be enjoying himself.
Burgess is 55, but didn’t look it, and had an energy belying his years. A very young-at-heart performer.
The music was en pointe and they smashed through their greatest hits including The Only One I Know, One to Another, North Country Boy and Weirdo, as well as the odd deep cut for hardcore fans. Their unique mix of psychedelia, dance rhythms and indie rock hasn’t dated and still sounded fresh with the Hammond organ particularly tasty.
The gig was ear-splittingly loud – too loud at some points – with the intricacies of the music lost amidst the swirling boom of the bass, but it seemed to sort itself out halfway through the gig.
Burgess aside, the rest of the the band were the very definition of “shoegaze” – barely looking up from the floor all night.
Well into paunchy middle-age, perhaps they felt self-conscious in such a small venue or maybe that was their 90s thing and they were sticking to it.
The 90 minute set was the perfect length and finished with a psychedelic jam as Burgess sauntered off stage, in what was the final date of their Australian tour.
As we spilled out into the Rosemount courtyard, my friends and I were cornered by a Charlatans anorak in his mid-50s who had travelled all over the world to see them.
He regaled us with tales of meeting the band backstage, boozy hotel room shenanigans and his dealings with other 90s indie heroes like Mani from The Stone Roses.
His intense, mad stories seemed like a fitting farewell to a band that has a devout indie following in the UK, but never quite enjoyed the global success they deserved.
The Charlatans, Rosemount Hotel, Sunday October 16.
IT’S no surprise the folk living in this East Perth apartment have a spotting scope in their lounge.
The views from the 23rd floor are absolutely stunning with a panorama that includes the Swan River, Optus Stadium, Hills, Elizabeth Quay and Kings Park.
There’s a giant 53sqm wrap-around balcony as well, so you can enjoy drinks and nibbles in the fresh air while taking in the ever-changing view as the seasons change. The view is just one of the highlights of this three bedroom two bathroom apartment, which was built in 2017 and is currently leased until May 2023.
The Voice really like the spacious open plan lounge/dining/kitchen area with the floor-to-ceiling windows maximising the view and creating a sense of being at one with nature. A lovely touch is the polished wooden floors which have a dark honey hue, adding a touch of warmth to the interior.
This is complemented by the slightly darker finish on the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen, which has a glass splashback, white stone benchtops and a double sink.
There’s enough room for a breakfast bar, giving you different dining options.
All the bedrooms are finished to a high standard with direct balcony access, and the ensuite main includes a walk-in robe while the other two have built-in robes and plenty of natural light.
The flat is big enough to have a seperate laundry with tons of storage and enough space for a washing machine and tumble dryer. The home includes two secure side-by-side car bays and a 5sqm lockable storeroom.
The facilities in the apartment complex are top-of-the-line with the Leisure Club giving residents access to a private gymnasium, sauna, billiards room, table tennis, pool lounge and cabana, 14 seat dining room and fully equipped private kitchen, corporate board room, residents lounge and library, BBQ, garden court and movie theatre.
Situated at the Concerto Apartment complex at 189 Adelaide Terrace, you are on the doorstep of the CBD and a short walk from the WACA and Elizabeth Quay, and not too far from Optus Stadium and Kings Park.
From $1,198,000 149/189 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth RealEstate88 9200 6168 Agent Terry Lu 0410 213 027
Celsius towers leave residents steaming.• Former mayor Nick Catania chaired a town meeting opposing the project, packing out the Royal Park Hall so much they ran out of chairs. Photo by David Bell.
Celsius towers leave residents steaming
MORE than 100 townspeople packed out a public hall to air complaints about a13-storey development planned for a strip of North Perth.
Celsius Property Groupwants to build a 13-storey and an 11-storey tower on a large Fitzgerald Street block stretching from Raglan Road to Alma Road, though under Vincent council policy it should only have up to six storeys.
It’ll have 97 apartments, ground floor shops and a couple of levels of offices.
Celsius originally planned to build 16 storeys on the site, but even shrinking the height to 13 hasn’t pleased a lot of locals.
Resident Ashlee Fontaine organised the Monday October 10 meeting at Royal Park Hall, chaired by former Vincent mayor Nick Catania who’s returned to public life to help residents organise their opposition.
So many people showed up the hall ran out of chairs, a show of opposition at a level rarely seen in Vincent.
Ms Fontaine says: “The key concerns centred around the bulk and scale of the building, overlooking and overshadowing, and traffic volumes on adjacent local streets, the use of the narrow right of way which would be dominated by the collection of rubbish, and the delivery of commercial productsat all times of the day and night was also discussed.”
The decision to approve or deny goes to the Joint Development Assessment Panel which has three state government-appointed members and two Vincent councillors. A majority of three votes is needed for approval, and the JDAP’s traditionally seen as pretty pro-development and has given a lot of similar projects discretionary allowance to go above local council limits.
Perth MP John Carey attended, and while keeping neutral advised residents to stick to planning issues if they wanted the JDAP to hear their voices.
Resident Neil Stacey lives next door to the project and says he’llfight it tooth and nail. Photo by David Bell.
Back when he was Vincent mayor he brought in the 2016 policy that allowed four to six storeys in this part of North Perth.
“We do need development, we do need infill,” Mr Carey said, so residents should focus their argument on planning rules, “bulk, height, traffic,” instead of railing against the existence of apartments.
“We’re not against development,” resident Neil Stacey told the Voice this week, speaking outside his one-storey 121-year-old home Alma Road that neighbours the project site. They just want something a quality development that’d fit within the council’s limits.
“I think what the residents are looking for is the same rules and regulations that apply to other ratepayers to apply to them,” he nods towards the Celsius block.
Celsius’ managing director Richard Pappas tells the Voice the current design with its 13 and 11 storeys is a better outcome than a shorter building they could likely get approved on the site.
Mr Pappas says given similar projects approved around Vincent that are above the usual storey limits, they could probably get a big, wide eight-storey project approved without much hassle.
This design instead shifts some of that bulk into two towers that are closer to Fitzgerald Street, so the residential neighbours to the rear only face three storeys instead of a possible six or eight.
“In our view this is a better outcome,” Celsius’ project manager Matt Evans tells us.
Mr Pappas says they’ve gone the extra mile on community consultation, and during their open days held on site a majority of people have been supportive.
Asked why this one had brought in an unusual amount of opposition for a project in Vincent, Mr Evans says: “I think it’s because we’re the first”.
“I think there’s no question this development has caught the attention of a reasonable number of the community,” Mr Pappas says.
“Vincent is the last near-city [area] that doesn’t have any height.”
Community consultationis via imagine.vincent.wa.gov. au and closes October 17, then Vincent council’s planning staff will prepare a yea-or-nay recommendation for the JDAP to make a final decision.
THREE Charles Street intersections may be sunk in prepraration for a population boom in the northern suburbs.
The plan’s in the thought-bubble stage and is likely years off, but Main Roads has started consultation early as land acquisitions may be needed.
The intersections at Vincent Street, Scarborough Beach Road and Walcott Street would be turned into “duck and dives”, short vertical bypasses that take the north-south traffic underground. Local east-west traffic would stay aboveground.
The Main Roads project video says Charles Street “is congested, with limited places for pedestrians or cyclists to cross safely, as well as an unattractive corridor to walk along or wait for buses, which are often caught in the traffic queues”. It says the duck and dives wouldn’t take up as much space as old-style solutions such as extra lanes.
Locals and social media groups haven’t embraced the concept.
“If they build this freeway this wide it’s going to destroy our neighbourhood. I’ll be looking to move – noise and pollution are already terrible,” was North Perth resident Andrew Main’s take on the concept.
He’s tried for years via letters, petitions and deputations to get both local and state governments to make Charles Street friendlierfor pedestrians and cyclists.
The street divides Vincent neighbourhoods right down the middle and crossings are few. Main Roads says they’ll put in more signalled crossings along Charles Street and there could be wider footpaths, but there are no plans for bike lanes.
“No bike infrastructure is offensive and the other routes are less than ideal,” Mr Main says.
“Increasing car capacityhas to stop. The whole reason for having roads is to get to destinations. Main Roadsare intent on destroying destinations.”
Mr Main says: “The solution is public transport and probably an underground railway line along the Charles St and/or Fitzgerald Street alignments.
“Climate is changing, the world is heating up, transport emissions are the fastest growing sector ‚Äî and Main Roads offer up a 1950s-style freeway solution.”
While Main Roads has been emphatic that road widening and acquiring bits of private property is not set in stone, there’s been some hints that’ll be a likely outcome.
The state government’s had a longstanding “Planning Control Area” extending a couple metres either side of Charles Street that’s prevented anyone developing there. And in 2020 Main Roads paid Vincent council $475,000 for an empty lot at the corner of Charles and Vincent Street, partly inside the strip, and available for the widened duck and dive intersection.
Main Roads is running a survey til December 1 via mysaytransport.wa.gov.au/charles-street-planning-study
OBSESSIVE compulsive disorder (OCD) can sometimes be the elephant in the room, but a new book is helping shed light on the issue and give voice to those with lived experience.
Try Not to Think of a Pink Elephant: Stories of OCD includes stories from five people with a unique perspective of the disorder, including two Freo contributors.
Sienna Rose Scully grew up in Fremantle, but moved to the United States as an 18 year old to take up a bachelor’s degree as a student-athlete and play soccer at a collegiate level.
Scully says at that ageshe hadn’t yet come to fully understand her OCD, but realised that no matter how tough the challenge, she was able to find a way out.
Her story was the catalyst for the book and she says her experience prompted her desire to help others.
“My heavy desire to help those that were in the same position as my younger self and are struggling alone needing something like this book to shed at least a little light and comfort on the situation for them,” she told the Herald.
She says it’s particularly aimed at helping young people first discovering the disorder and their caretakers.
“The major themes of the book are OCD and mental health. These themes were chosen because it is those with OCD that deserve to have a book like this that they can turn to – to not feel alone,” she said.
She particularly hopes a series of affirmations at the end of her contribution will have an impact and help those in the same position as w her younger self.
“This will be my first published book and plan to celebrate with family and friends once it is out in October,” she said.
“I celebrated with FaceTime calls while I was stuck overseas when I was offered the publishing contract.
“I have written many pieces … hidden away on my laptop or in journals, however this is the first piece I have ventured into attempting to get published.
“This would be my favourite due to its meaning and possibility to hopefully help others.
“I have grown up in and around Fremantle my whole life. I also attended John Curtin College of the Arts and worked in and around Fremantle growing up, at The Mexican Kitchen and at the Fremantle Markets,” Scully said.
Try Not to Think of a Pink Elephant: Stories of OCD also includes a contribution from former Herald intern Patrick Marlborough, as well as Brisbane writer/filmmaker Martin Ingle, Melbourne genderqueer nonfiction writer Dani Leever and Sydney writer Katharine Pollock.
Try Not to Think of a Pink Elephant: Stories of OCDwas published by Fremantle Press and was released a week ago. It retails for $32.99 from fremantlepress.com.au
BAYSWATER voters will finally get to choose their mayor, but only as a result of the McGowan government’s gunboat diplomacy.
Bayswater is one of the last few urban councils that still has a mayor appointed by councillors via a secret vote after an election.
Almost everyone else has candidates nominate for the mayoral role during the election and the people decide.
The state government’s sweeping local government reforms announced this year will – if passed by parliament– eventually require nearly all medium and large councils to switch over to a popular vote.
There’s also proposed limits on how many councillors they can have based on population, so Bayswater will go from 11 councillors to 9.
Smaller councils may no longer have a “ward” system where councillors run in a certain neighbourhood rather than the whole council area.
Local government minister John Carey wrote to all councils in September asking them to ‘voluntarily’ make some of those reforms ahead of the next election before it’s made mandatory to smoothen the process.
If Bayswater didn’t come to an agreement in time, all council spots would be declared vacant at the 2023 election, and their wards would be abolished.
Bayswater mayor Filomena Piffaretti called in a special council meeting this week and urged colleagues to voluntarily switch over to a popularly-elected mayor system for the 2023 election.
Consensus
The popular-mayor question’s been debated back and forth in Bayswater over the years, but there’s never been a consensus to switch over until now that the state’s forced their hand.
“Were we to take an alternative path … we would lose the capacity to have input on the process on behalf of our community,” Cr Piffaretti said.
A majority of councillors supported Cr Piffaretti’s motion, with only Cr Giorgia Johnson against. But many didn’t like the tone of the state government’s ‘request’ to ‘voluntarily’ switch.
Cr Petersen-Pik said: “We received an ultimatum from our minister of local government, that if we did not take whathe referred to as a ‘voluntary’ approach, we would find ourselves next year in a big chaos. No wards, no councillors in specific wards, and the costs of [holding] elections for all positions.”
He said it was concerning that all this could be set in motion simply by a letter from a minister, even though the local government reform bill hadn’t actually been approved by state parliament.
“Only because of a letter,us – and all local governments throughout the state – are now compelled to consider our options.
“And I think that’s concerning for every resident in this state, and maybe this is an outcome of having one party ruling in both houses where one minister can make something like this, the minister that’s supposed to work with local governments.”
Cr Piffaretti, a Labor party member herself, said “if you’re considering what’s best forthe city, this is the best option because it’s the least disruptive,” as at timely review could help keep their ward system.
Skate Sculptures’ concept design for the Mount Hawthorn Skatepark.
THE first concept images have been released for the new Mount Hawthorn youth skatepark, with Britannia Reserve looking the likely location.
State Perth MP John Carey got the ball rolling on the idea with a community survey in 2020 revealing big demand for a kids’ skate space and he gave an election commitment of $200,000 to Vincent council to make it happen.
There’s already one skatepark at Leederville but it’s aimed at an older crowd.
Mr Carey told us this week: “We need a skatepark thatis designed for children and younger teenagers.
A skating pop up in 2018 sparked the idea for a permanent park.
“I think why the skatepark is so needed is we have a children-and-teens boom in Mount Hawthorn and North Perth. The demographics are changing.”
A few different parks were looked at and most people seemed supportive of putting it at Britannia Reserve near the bike pump track.
Vincent council’s preliminary survey on where to put the skatepark got 140 responses and 78.6 per cent liked Britannia Reserve.
The council will vote at its October 18 meeting whether to move ahead and put the skatepark concept plan out for consultation.
Miss Italy 1973, Christine Bertelli, with children from the Italian Australian Child Care Centre, 1973.
THIS week the archivists from the Vincent Local History Centre are calling out for stories from people who attended the Italian Australian Childcare Centre, the long-running North Perth institution that cared for the influx of Italian children as migrant mothers adapted to changing times and took to the workforce.
TUCKED away on Barnet Street in North Perth, the Italian Australian Child Care Centre has been caring for kids for more than 50 years.
It was established in the early 1970sto provide low-cost child care for Italian migrant families in the North Perth area.
The 1950s and 1960s were the heyday of Italian migration to Western Australia, with many Italians settling in and around North Perth.
Italian migrant women were keen to work outside their homes to help their families make ends meet and get ahead.
Italian Australian Child Care Centre, Barnet Street, North Perth, mid-1970s.
Low-cost child care helped make it possible for many Italian migrant women to enter the workforce.
The Italian Australian Child Care Centre, initially named ‘Asilo Nido, Emma Majoli’, was built by the Italo-Australian Welfare and Cultural Centre between 1970-1971, with its first intake of children in 1972.
The centre was built after many years of community fundraising events, with proceeds from the annual ‘Miss Italy Quest’ vital to its establishment.
Over the past five decades, many thousands of children and families have been cared for at the centre.
If you have memories of attending the centre, please get in touch with the Vincent Local History Centre at local. history@vincent.wa.gov.au
Perth Voice Interactive 