Perth Voice Interactive

A HUGE redevelopment with a 29-level office tower is set to transform Barrack Street between the malls, and bring Perth’s Liberty Theatre back to life, but it’s at the cost of some heritage that hasn’t thrilled WA’s Heritage Council.

Developer Randal Humich united the six properties along Barrack Street under the umbrella of his company Southern Cross Properties in 2021, after nearly two years of negotiation with the various owners and says it provided a rare opportunity for a “coordinated revitalisation”.

“My vision for the site has always been to create an arts and culture hub incorporating the upper levels of Barrack Street and reactivating many of the sites’ hidden features that have been out of service for more than 40 years,” Mr Humich told the Perth Development Assessment Panel which gave the project its tick of approval.

“I’m hoping this project will provide a significant cultural and arts contribution to the Perth CBD which will include an activated laneway rich in art, landscape, and performance with a pocket park for respite and relief from the urban context.”

Mr Humich claimed a “large component” of the redevelopment was heritage conservation, but the project will see the complete demolition of the Grand Hotel on the corner of the Murray Street Mall and enough internal gutting to have the Heritage Council warning of “façadism”.

“The demolition of the Grand Hotel and rear demolition to several buildings will result in a substantial loss of heritage fabric within the Barrack Street precinct,” Heritage Council chair John Cowdell wrote to the council in August.

After initially giving the development the thumbs-down because of its impact on the state-listed Connor Quinlan building, Mr Cowdell told Perth council’s planners that revised plans from architects Hames Shirley had “partly ameliorated” the council’s concerns.

He was still urging them to retain the Grand Hotel, suggesting it could be adapted into a lobby for the office tower, but the City’s planners sided with the developer’s heritage impact statement which said its loss was compensated for by the preservation and reactivation of the other buildings.

Adding to the heritage grey area, Barrack Street and the Hay Street Mall were flagged by the heritage council as contenders for a precinct-wide state listing in 2003 which would have potentially beefed up its protection, but no assessment was carried out.

A handful of neighbouring property owners also raised some concerns, including the impact a rooftop bar above the Liberty Theatre will have on inner-city residents.

“Should the application be successful then we would ask that the building/planner consider placing noise proofing/closure on the east side of the rooftop bar to eliminate noise and that the music etc be limited to a reasonable hour and that no live bands be able to use this area,” one wrote.

Another said the office tower was out of place near the malls.

“Council has always maintained that the city malls of Murray Street and Hay Street would remain low rise area,” they submitted.

“This is to maintain the open air and family-friendly environment Perth citizens currently enjoy.

“Putting a 23-storey office tower within this zone is not [in] keeping with this sentiment.”

Another argued Mr Humich should have been restricted to just six storeys, with only another two storeys if they were set back.

But the planning report said the developer had modified the design to minimise overshadowing onto the Hay Street Mall and was “located on the northern Murray Street Mall elevation to ensure limited impact on existing heritage buildings which will be revitalised as part of the proposal.

LOCAL opposition is emerging to plans to put 13 storeys of apartments across a North Perth mega-block stretching from Raglan to Alma Road.

Developer Celsius has submitted plans for two towers with 97 apartments, seven ground floor commercial tenancies and a couple of levels of offices.

It’s been three years in the making, revised down from earlier plans for 16 storeys (“Celsius rising,” Voice, June 26, 2021).

The height’s still well above Vincent council’s usual six storey zoning for the area and will need the state government’s development assessment panel to exercise discretion if it’s to go ahead.

Nearby hairdresser Neil Stacey says the community is also unhappy that six century-old shopfronts would be demolished under the plans.

A flyer put out by Celsius earlier this year said the project was in line with the state government’s focus on putting new apartments on transport routes in activity centres to cope with a rising population. The flyer said these apartments would help North Perth meet its population growth more efficiently than more widespread piecemeal developments that’d have more of an impact on the suburb’s character.

The old 16 storey design split participants in a 2021 street survey of Fitzgerald Street shoppers carried out by Celsius, with 49 per cent for, 41 per cent against and 9 per cent neutral.

The redesigned plan has just been released for community consultation and some early local opposition is speaking out. 

Nearby resident Emily Bird told us the development would have “enormous visual impact – 13 storeys across a whole block and back to the laneway.

“The impact on the residential properties immediately surrounding that area will be devastating on their quality of life and property values.

“The overshadowing is going to be oppressive, especially for people who live on that laneway, who will also have a huge amount of traffic coming and going,” with the development hosting 351 car bays and the western laneway being the access point. 

Ms Bird said among the locals concerned about the project “a lot of people are not anti-high rise … people are prepared to accept six storeys, maybe even seven or eight. There’s a six storey building on the corner of Fitzgerald and Angove Street.

“But this would be two and a half times that height.”

Comments are open until October 17 under the development application section at imagine.vincent.wa.gov.au and there are info drop-in sessions at 10am on September 18 and October 1 at Vincent council HQ.

by DAVID BELL

ENTREPRENEUR Melody McCarthy is the brains behind Perth’s latest fashion phenomenon, which has stormed the country and is now poised to go international.

Fashion Thrift Society, which Ms McCarthy founded just over a year ago, is a second-hand and vintage clothing market that’s cashing in on a younger generation’s eagerness for more sustainable threads. 

According to US “resale” industry analysts thredUP, the second-hand clothing market is expected to grow at three times the rate of the general global apparel industry by 2026.

ThredUP CEO James Reinhart said the trend was forcing a rethink by the major brands and retailers.

“In fact, brands with their own resale shops increased 275 per cent, from eight in 2020 to 30 in 2021,” Mr Reinhart said in the preamble to this year’s threadUP Resale Report.

“We are still in the very beginning of this trend, but the acceleration of resale adoption is a positive signal with enormous benefits for the planet,” he said.

Great news for Ms McCarthy who runs packed-out markets around the metro area every couple of month; but she says FTS is more than a mere marketplace. 

“It’s a fun community fashion-focused event where people can come meet new people, shop, find one of a kind treasures and goodies, eat good food and listen to good music,” she said. 

Besides its social appeal Fashion Thrift “also supports sustainable fashion; re-wearing is caring and an advocate for small businesses”.

Originally from Brisbane, Ms McCarthy (27) graduated from the University of Queensland in 2013 with a marketing and PR degree, then launched her own festival-apparel brand.

She enjoyed some initial success over east, but the market disappeared almost overnight when Covid restrictions put an end to festivals and outdoor gatherings. 

Ms McCarthy relocated to Perth for a fresh start, considering options that used her marketing nous as well as her love for fashion. As a young girl she had spent hours sketching new Y2K outfits, despite wearing hand-me-downs herself, and says her obvious love of fashion rubbed off on others.

“I think people see the excitement and passion that I have and I think that sells people on the event,” she said. 

The first FTS gathering in June last year was a roaring success, with the queue snaking around the venue and people prepared to wait up to three hours for their chance to cruise the clothes racks. These days you can buy a VIP, all-day or sessional ticket to avoid the gnarly queue.

Ms McCarthy is currently on an Australia-wide Fashion Thrift Society tour that lands in Melbourne in November, though she’s ducking back to Perth for markets in Mirrabooka tomorrow (Sunday September 18), October 30 and December 3.

They’ve proven to be as much in demand over east as in Perth, with the Brisbane’s 9000-strong crowd breaking the FTS record in August.

The success has encouraged Ms McCarthy to expand the tour next year, with plans to visit around 25 venues.

Ms McCarthy told the Voice that Fashion Thrift Society will be going international very soon, but when and where is yet to be announced. However, she has announced she will be moving to London at the end of the year…

Tomorrow’s market will have more than 120 sellers as well as an appearance by Perth’s biggest social media influencer Gracie Piscopo, who has 1 million Instagram followers.

Tickets available at https://www. fashionthriftsociety.com.au/.

by MIA KNOX

IN this week’s look back in time, the Vincent Local History Centre helps celebrate the Leederville Hotel’s 125 years as a magnet for locals looking for a good night out.

ESTABLISHED suburbs in Perth are filled with local pubs that have their own rich history and character.

This year, the Leederville Hotel clocks up over 125 years of serving patrons.  

Built in 1896 and operated since 1897, the pub has long been at the centre of social life in Leederville. 

The two-storey Federation style brick and iron pub was built to provide accommodation and slake the thirst of many newcomers from overseas and interstate flooding into Perth in the gold rush era.  

While the original architect and builder of the pub are not known, its first owner was James Pearce who applied to the Perth Licencing Court in December 1896 “for a premises already built at the junction of Leeder, Oxford and Newcastle Streets, the place being ready for opening at once”(Daily News, 8 Dec 1896). 

In its early years, the pub changed hands several times and was rebuilt in 1904 into a much larger hotel “worthy of the district, compact and pretentious in aspect”.  

The new hotel was the first building in Leederville to have electricity.  

A new era of progress and prosperity for the district was ushered in when the Leederville mayor flicked the light switch on at the hotel’s grand re-opening in January 1905.  

In 1914, the hotel was sold to the Swan Brewery Company which was Perth’s most dominant beer supplier and the owner of a large portion of the city’s hotels at the time.

In the period from World War I to 1926, the hotel was run by publicans Louis and Maud Cunningham who actively supported local charities and community groups, helped develop and promote other local businesses in the area such as a billiard saloon and the New Oxford Theatre built in 1927 (now Luna Cinemas).  

The hotel was extensively refurbished in 1928 by the Todd Brothers and architects Hobbs, Smith and Forbes.  

It was altered again in 1950 with the addition of a women’s toilet, despite women still being segregated from drinking in main public bars until the late 1960s.  

As the nearby Leederville Oval, the former home of the West Perth Football Club from the 1900s to 1994, had no bar facilities in its early days, the hotel became the club and its supporters’ preferred watering hole.

Locals Reg Axford and Harold Mundy recall Cardinals footballers from the 1950s and 1960s 

“training” at the pub on Friday nights before a game. 

“All this bunkum that goes on with training today – West Perth footballers used to train Friday nights at the Leederville Hotel,” they said.

“They’d be outside singing to the Salvation Army, going home as full as googs – and they’d come out on Saturday afternoon and play champion games of football.”

By the late 1960s, the hotel changed again as more cars and motels popped up in Perth, causing a decline in demand for short-term accommodation in inner-city pubs, including the Leederville Hotel.  

The hotel became home to many long-term boarders who were often single men on low incomes.  

One of these lodgers, “Kanga”, who ran a local betting shop, lived and died in the tower bedroom of the hotel, is said to haunt the hotel.  

There are various stories of his ghostly apparition in the pub, including an episode in the late 1980s when his night time presence repeatedly set off the hotel’s alarm systems until desperate hotel staff wrote the ghost a cease and desist letter.  

The Swan Brewery Company sold the Leederville Hotel in 1980. 

It dropped accommodation over the years and the premises were remodelled by a succession of different owners.  

The hotel was placed on the Vincent heritage inventory in 1995 in recognition of its distinct Federation architecture and social value as a social and entertainment venue. In more recent years, its iconic beer garden and Blue Flamingo bar were popular go-to venues for locals. 

The pub got a new lease of life in 2021 with a major redevelopment. 

The new-look Leederville Hotel and adjacent Electric Lane, which is named as a nod to its early history, has breathed new life into the hotel’s old bones and reconnected it to the heart of the Leederville community.  

If you’d like to learn more about the Leederville Hotel or share any photos or information about the pub, please visit the City of Vincent Local History Centre. 

BAYSWATER ratepayers will get to choose their own mayor under new local government reforms making their way through Parliament.

But it will come at the cost of some elected representation, as the City’s population of 75,000 will be too small to justify any more than eight ward councillors and a mayor.

Bayswater currently has 11 elected ward representatives, one of whom is chosen by their colleagues to wear the mayoral robes. North, central and west wards have three positions (with mayor Filomena Piffaretti having been elected in north ward), while south ward has two councillors.

Following local government minister John Carey announcing the latest tranche of reforms in July, Bayswater will this week vote on whether to adopt the “direct election” of the mayor by voters at the 2023 council elections.

While the legislation mandating the change is unlikely to be passed before those elections, Bayswater CEO Jeremy Edwards has been told Mr Carey will soon be writing to councils urging them not to wait.

The changes are also expected to spark a full review of the council’s ward boundaries.

“No details have been provided to local governments regarding the intended transitional arrangements for the proposed reform,” a report to this week’s council meeting said.

“However, it appears … the minister intends for the changes to be implemented across two ordinary council meetings.

“This may either require adjustments to be made to the ward boundaries twice, or for the Local Government Advisory Board to consider a temporary relaxation of its elected member to elector ratios policy.”

Council officers noted that they’d have to get cracking, as a ward and boundary review can take four to six months, and they need to have a proposal ready for the Local Government Advisory Board before January 31, 2023 in order to make any changes in time for the next elections.

by STEVE GRANT

DUTCH East India Company wrecks which dot the WA coast will get to shine on the international archaeology stage after UWA scored an $800,000 research grant.

The Dutch had a habit of over-shooting the turn north to the famed “Spice Islands” during their maritime heyday, and since the 1960s a handful of valuable archaeological sites have been discovered. One yielded up the remains of the Batavia which now reside in the Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle.

Now the Australia Research Council grant will allow the UWA researchers to partner with other organisations to put WA’s shipwrecks in an international context in a way that’s not been possible before.

UWA professor of Archeology Alistair Paterson said the funding would help tell WA’s story around the world.

“After years of looking at the archaeology, finally we’ve got a project focused on the fabulous collections that are here in Western Australia and situating them in a global context with 10 international partners,” Prof Peterson said.

“I don’t think that story has been told through the collections in the way that we’re hoping to do with this project.

“And in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum and the National Archives and all these extraordinary places around the world, which we can tell through the VOC [Dutch East India Company], we can bring those collections together with the archaeology.”

Fremantle federal Labor MP Josh Wilson also announced $700,000 had been awarded to Notre Dame University to investigate, describe and compare the transfer of First Nation’s knowledge in the Kimberley and Southwest to understand how cultural and environment values had persisted despite colonisation.

“This is great news for Fremantle/Walyalup, a place and a community that has always valued and benefited from our rich heritage and history,” Mr Wilson said.

“Linkage Projects promote national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations, and other publicly funded research agencies.

“It is fantastic that local researchers and innovators have been recognised and rewarded with these grants.”