Perth Voice Interactive

COUNCILLORS, guests and staff have been able to enjoy dine-in meals together at council civic centres without having to provide proof of vaccination.

While the rest of WA has been forced to fumble with phones to prove their vaccination status before sitting down in a cafe or restaurant, the Voice has confirmed that a “loophole” in the McGowan government’s restrictions means this hasn’t applied to council dining rooms or lounges.

Some restaurants and bars have reported struggling with the extra workload required to vaccine-check each patron, while some staff have been assaulted dealing with mandate malcontents.

But the Voice got a tip this week claiming no vaccine checks were being carried out at Stirling council’s dining room, where councillors and staff gather for a meal and refreshments on meeting nights. It’s a similar story at other councils that still operate dining rooms. 

Our tipster, who didn’t give a name, claimed “while I have no issues with the dinner side of things, I’m told they are not requiring proof of vaccination to eat and drink there”.

They were right.

We put the query to Stirling mayor Mark Irwin, who responded via email through the council’s PR department. 

Exempt

Mr Irwin said they’ve stuck to all state government health mandates including requesting proof of vaccination and mask mandates at council facilities. But the civic centre’s exempt.

“In relation to the City’s civic centre, there is no requirement for the City to request proof of vaccination from members of the public, employees or elected members,” Mr Irwin said.

“The requirement to request proof of vaccination at venues providing food and beverages applies when food and beverages are being sold and consumed on premise. The City does not sell food and beverage at its civic centre, therefore checking vaccination status is not required under the state government’s proof of vaccination requirements.”

Our unnamed correspondent described that as a “loophole”: “From an outsider looking in they should be follow the rules just like everyone else considering state Parliament requires this of all politicians. This definitely would not stand up to public scrutiny.”

We’d also asked Mr Irwin if councillor vaccine status was checked at another entry point or at other times, and he said “there are no specific requirements or mandates that apply to elected members in the conduct of their role”.

At Bayswater, too, acting CEO Des Abel tells us vaccine proof requirements don’t apply since the lounge and dining areas are not a “hospitality venue, restaurant, caf√©, dine in fast food store or other place of business selling prepared food or drinks for consumption at the place”, the definition given by the state government’s directions.

It’s the same story at Vincent council’s function room, although mayor Emma Cole adds “all Vincent council members are triple vaccinated and we are currently running hybrid meetings, so far with up to three council members and minimal staff in-person” and others zooming in.

Perth council’s dining room has been closed since 2018 due to historic overuse by some previous councillors. 

We checked with some other metropolitan councils and found the same story.

“At the moment elected members are not required to show proof of vaccination at pre-council meeting briefings where dinner is served, although they are encouraged to do so,” Cockburn council governance executive Emma Milne said.

“This is in keeping with the state government direction. If the state enters a lockdown this will change.”

Fremantle council was a little more vague, with its PR department saying: “We do not request to see elected members‚Äô vaccination certificates before they eat. We follow the requirements outlined by the state government for entry to the building/meeting.”

by DAVID BELL

DESIGN works are underway for a $52.4 million redevelopment of the Perth Concert Hall, with Perth based With_Architecture Studio and international firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture appointed lead architects.

The hall was built in 1973 and is one of Perth’s last surviving brutalist behemoths. But as it nears 50 it’s in need of some TLC and has been costing millions in patchwork repairs in recent years. 

The redevelopment was announced in 2020 as part of the tri-government Perth City Deal, the WA government paying $36.4m, the federal government covering $12m , and Perth council pitching in $4m.

OMA was previously a co-designer of the WA Museum Boola Bardip’s 2019 redevelopment, while With_Architecture’s local work includes 99 St Georges Terrace and designing the yet-to-be-built Gold Hotel planned for a nearby site. Both firms are fond of boxy, cantilevered designs.

Enduring

The Concert Hall was originally designed by Howlett and Bailey Architects, and in 2016 won the National Architecture Award for Enduring Design.

The jury’s citation said “brutalist buildings like the Perth Concert Hall, if situated in lucrative residential locations and subject to government short-sightedness, can be easy targets for demolition. 

“With recent government-owned buildings such as the Sirius apartment complex in Sydney and even heritage-listed buildings such as the Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne now earmarked for demolition, it is imperative that buildings of this nature are accepted by the general population as being key to our nation’s architectural story.”

While the redevelopment design won’t be seen for a while a joint government press release says the plan is to “preserve the heritage-listed concert hall and activate a future cultural hub connecting the city and the Swan River”.

Works are due for completion by late 2024. 

A LAST-GASP bid to keep food trucks in Hyde Park has flopped.

In December most of Vincent council voted to lease out the park’s western storage shed to the owners of Veggie Mama to set up a food kiosk.

One proviso was the existing Hyde Park food trucks would have to move out and not compete with the new cafe. 

This devastated What the Flip food van owner Islam Bouyahia, who said his business’s survival relied on a loyal following and many friends he’d made among the regular parkgoers. 

At Vincent’s AGM of electors in February, food truck fan Tom Young moved a motion calling for the kiosk plan to be cancelled and a “proper independent survey be conducted”, as he viewed the council’s initial public consultation as flawed.

He said Vincent’s generous deal with Veggie Mama, which involves the council paying $55,000 to upgrade the building and giving Veggie Mama three months’ free rent, was the “worst deal” he had ever seen.

The motion was backed by attendees, meaning the council had to consider it at a future meeting, but it’s not scheduled for debate until April.

Kiosk deal

This week Cr Ross Ioppolo moved an urgent motion seeking to halt the kiosk deal. 

Mr Ioppolo, who in December had voted against the food trucks being kicked, proposed “that council instructs the CEO to defer making any further legally or financially binding operational decisions” until Mr Young’s AGM motion was properly voted on.

When council voted in December Cr Ron Alexander had to sit out under conflict of interest rules due to living too close to the park.

But this week he said after undertaking his new councillor training he believed he was entitled to a vote under the “interest in common” provision that lets councillors still vote if they’re affected by an issue the same way as a large number of citizens.

A 40-minute debate ensued over the technicalities and he was eventually excluded from the vote and the decision to delay was lost 2:5, with just Crs Ioppolo and Ashley Wallace in favour.

That mirrors December’s vote to bring in the kiosk and oust the food trucks, auguring poorly for any chance future votes on Mr Young’s AGM motion will undo that decision. 

Even without the kiosk moving in, the council’s been planning for a while to dislodge the food trucks from being semi-permanent fixtures. Their original plan was to have them setting up in different spots and not always parked in one park, but that slipped by the wayside for a couple of years and a few vans became rusted on to favourite spots. 

by DAVID BELL

THE choice of location for a February protest hosted by conservation groups may have seemed like an oddly remote one.

Members of the Jarrahdale Forest Protectors and WA Forest Alliance, along with community members and their families, met at a quiet stand of trees in the forest near Serpentine Dam, an hour’s drive from Perth’s CBD. 

Their 100-strong presence disrupted no one and their cries were heard only by black cockatoos flying overhead. But the location was carefully chosen. 

A few steps in the wrong direction would have put any errant protesters into a Reservoir Protection Zone established by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to maintain the quality of water at Serpentine Dam, an important source of drinking water for the Perth metro area. 

A pedestrian caught walking in an RPZ faces a hefty fine, and JFP’s Jeremy Perey was quick to point out the irony when the area has been pegged for mining and logging.

“The reason we’ve gathered here is because we want to highlight how unfair it seems and how inconsistent that they’re allowed to log in there and Alcoa is allowed to bulldoze and blast and excavate that area but you’re not allowed to go walk in there,” he told the assembled crowd.

The RPZ at Serpentine Dam, home to mature jarrah trees and vulnerable species like quokkas, is currently under threat from both timber logging under the DBCA’s Forest Management Plan, and from the expansion of bauxite mining giant Alcoa. 

According to the Forest Products Commission, a whopping 90 per cent of Jarrah logged is fated to become firewood, charcoal, or sawmill residue.

The McGowan government announced last year an end to native logging in 2024, so Jarrahdale stands to be one of the last stand-offs, though the JFP fear that the commission may try to rush a few more through before the ban comes into force.

“As taxpayers, we’re footing the bill to ruin this environment when there are perfectly acceptable sources of sustainable timber available elsewhere,” protest leader Jan Starr said.

“There are countless tree farms lying fallow or going broke because the FPC undercuts their business with half-baked plans like this.”

In a document released March 1, the Forest Product Commission published its intent to begin “Gap/Shelterwood/Thinning/Dieback Selection” of the area, formally called Serpentine 0320, in March-April.

But WA forestry minister Dave Kelly told the Chook on March 9 that “the Forest Products Commission advises that it has not made a final decision to conduct harvesting operations at the Serpentine-03 Coupe.”

Adding to the confusion, when the Chook contacted the FPC about the proposed logging, it directed us to the DBCA; when we contacted them, we were handballed back to the commission, which said it implements the forestry plan but is not responsible for the plan itself. 

Ms Starr said: “The FPC proceeds very quietly, not least because the whole point of their plan is to chop down mature jarrah trees which are some of the last remaining in our state.”

A DBCA spokesperson said the agency was required to “obtain technical guidance from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the Water Corporation” because of the proximity of Serpentine 0320 to a drinking water catchment, but does not publicly list these reports. 

The protected area is also threatened by Alcoa’s proposal to expand into the area north of Serpentine Dam, which it is calling Myara North.

JFP and WAFA are urging Sandgropers to contact their local MPs and ministers to make their voices heard before FCP breaks new ground at Serpentine.

ARANMORE Catholic Primary School fears kids will be left with a dire shortage of playspace if Vincent council sells off a playground neighbouring the Leederville school.

ACPS principal Jonnine Lamborne told this week’s council meeting “the school would be losing a well-utilised area that means a lot to our community”. 

She said the playground is “precious … for students who use it daily and to families who regularly gather there for school play and catchups”.

Due to a strange historical land swap Vincent council owns the little island of public open space tucked down an alleyway off Brentham Street. Because it can’t be seen from the road it’s mostly used by Aranmore kids at recess and after school. 

Vincent council’s been considering rezoning and selling off the land for housing; if sold to a private developer the playground could be levelled for up to three storeys of apartments. 

The nearby surrounds has plenty of parkland courtesy of Brentham Street Reserve so the council’s plan is to use the sale proceeds to buy property in a suburb in more need of open space, but as of this week there was no solid plan about what to buy so it’d just go into a holding fund.

Ms Lamborne called out the council’s uncertainty, saying “at the moment we observe Peter is being robbed to pay Paul, except Paul doesn’t really know his purpose”.

No funds

The school doesn’t have funds to buy the land and its first preference is for no sale. If a sale does go ahead, its second best option is that it stays open for community recreation.  

For now, the council’s moving ahead with the rezoning which will be a lengthy process. In the meanwhile the council has asked Vincent staff to come up with some solid options for where the proceeds would be spent with an aim to get an equivalent of the 1700sqm being sold. They’re also flagging spending up to $299,000 of the sale proceeds on a new playground close to the school on Brentham Street Reserve, the other bit of parkland the school abuts.

Ms Lamborne said “the school community would be most pleased with this”, if significant landscaping was undertaken to clear site lines and have the playground close to the school.

She said those measures would “deter loiterers, voyeurs, and opportunists, as well as [allow] easy access for the staff and students. Closer access is essential for safety and in the event of an emergency”.

AFTER three years working in the wings, women have a workshop to call their own in Stirling. 

In 2019 Stirling councillor Elizabeth Re moved that the council set up a workshop space for women similar to the council’s successful Men’s Shed.

In 2020 a pilot program offering female classes in skills like car maintenance, basic plumbing and furniture restoration were so popular even the waiting lists overflowed. 

Those were held in the Innaloo Sportsmen’s Club but there was a bit of disharmony as some of the older-fashioned sportsmen didn’t like having workwomen on their turf.

On March 8’s International Women’s Day a new space for women to get their tooltime was launched in a renovated workshop space at Scarborough Community Hub.

For phase one they’ll be sticking to guided skill-building workshops based on feedback during the pilot sessions.

Mayor Mark Irwin said in his IWD announcement: “The workshops were focused on expanding skills and knowledge rather than providing specific projects to work on.

“This demonstrated a clear point of difference compared to Men’s Sheds, which are very much focussed on developing skills and social connections through projects and delivering all activities within a single shed or easy to access space.”

Upskilling in sawing, drilling, and screwing are lined up for this month so far; times and bookings are via Scarborough Community Hub.

Women already well-acquainted with tools will continue to meet alternate Saturdays at the Balcatta Men’s Shed to use the heavy duty table-mounted tools. 

A BOLD plan to turn roads into parks is being touted as the solution to Vincent council’s lack of public open space.

The inner city council has a chronic lack of parkland and passive spaces, especially in packed suburbs like parts of Highgate and Mount Hawthorn where it can be more than a 400m walk to a park. 

Mayor Emma Cole has asked Vincent staff to look at all possible solutions to get some public open space, from buying private land, leasing some space long term, and converting roads.

Councillor Dan Loden is pushing the road conversion plan and at this week’s council meeting said “the reason why we have a lack of public open space is because we have a plethora of roads”.

He said looking at a map of Vincent “there are roads everywhere… we would only need to allocate a very, very small percentage of them to be public open space and we’d have the highest connection to public open space of any community in the Perth region, I would hazard a guess.”

He said the council buying enough land to satisfy open space needs in cramped areas like Glendalough could take a decade and cost a fortune, but using its own roads was far cheaper.

The idea was tried once back in 2018 when a quiet part of Hyde Street was closed off to make a small reserve larger. 

Bargain

Cr Loden said “that expanded on the existing park, basically converting the neighbouring road into additional parkland and creating an additional 800sqm of public open space, for $220,000,” a bargain compared to buying private land.

“Just absolute huge bang for buck,” Cr Loden said, adding that selling off a Brentham Street block they own in Leederville would give them enough proceeds that “we could basically fix our entire public open space [shortage] and have money left over to spare, in one go”. 

Deputy mayor Susan Gontaszewski said she wanted to assure citizens “we’re not coming for your cars: If you go to Hyde Street Reserve, you’re going to see that the open space has been delivered without significant loss of roads utilised by local residents” and without hindering residents’ access to their homes.

They’ve sent council staff off to scout out roads that could be converted to parkland without landlocking any residences. 

by DAVID BELL

A DEMENTIA-THEMED park is one potential option for the Brentham Street land, if interested buyer Rosewood Aged Care purchases the block. 

Rosewood CEO Mario Zulberti told last week’s council briefing they’re keen to buy the land for an Australia-first “dementia theme park”, set up as a park where residents could enjoy gardens and activities.

He said “we’ve had a good relationship with the school” and they’d be happy to share the space.

“Even though we would have security around the site we’d allow access to two components within the City: One would be the school children could come in at designated times,” and at other times they’d invite seniors from nearby Leederville Gardens.

They’re also keen on building an NDIS housing development.

“We see this as a great opportunity… It would be something of low intensity. We don’t have a great intention of construction on that site.” 

They would be keen on building at the front of the block, currently empty, which could be used as a site for a disability housing development subcontracted out under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.