Perth Voice Interactive

THE Maylands residents accused of damaging a verge tree outside their property say they believed Bayswater council had approved its brutal haircut.

Council staff have been investigating the case and classed it “tree vandalism” in a report to councillors, saying it is “unknown at this stage whether the tree will recover, or ever regain the form it had before being lopped”. 

But the owners of 1 Sussex Street, whose names are redacted in the report, say there was a miscommunication and they believed they had permission to cut back the melaleuca, which they say damaged their driveway and post box with falling debris.

Council records show a call from the residents last July lasting 1 minutes and 25 seconds, and apparently they reached the autodialer and pressed the button taking them to the council waste service contractor Cleanaway.

But the council’s tree services team have no record of speaking with residents, save for a 2020 job when they’d given the underside a mild prune. 

The staffer report says the residents’ claim they were authorised “cannot be corroborated by the city, despite an extensive review into the matter”.

The report also rejects the residents’ characterisation of the works as a mere pruning: “The tree in question was not pruned or trimmed; the top was completely lopped off which constitutes vandalism as it has severely damaged the natural form and function of the tree”. 

Staff have recommended councillors vote to install a three-metre sign declaring that a tree’s been vandalised as per the council’s Urban Tree Policy, or as an alternative could require two new trees to replace the wounded one. Councillors will decide whether to take up one of those options or to just do nothing at the January 25 meeting. 

December’s meeting may have previewed a gentler approach to tree-removers given a slim majority of councillors voted to remove some of the clauses preventing tree pruning or removal (“Tree protection pruned,” Voice, January 15, 2022).

by DAVID BELL

DRONES have been called into action in the latest wave of the war on mosquitoes. Mozzies have plagued Maylands in particular for years and Bayswater council’s tried everything from poisoning their larval water sources to patrolling the wetlands with amphibious all-terrain vehicles to get to breeding sites in tricky areas thick with mud and snakes. Now they’ve brought in the ominously named Omnidrone to carry out aerial bombardments. They’re currently sitemapping the wetlands to gather topographical data to input into the drones’ computer systems, with plans for the Omnidrones to carry out targeted larvicides to the high density breeding areas, hoping to minimise collateral spraying while reducing traffic into the delicate areas.

KINGS PARK has a new chair with the former director general of the department of planning, lands and heritage Gail McGowan appointed this week. The board’s appointed by new WA environment minister Reece Whitby, and Ms McGowan is replacing long term chair Richard Simpson whose term finished December 2021. The new deputy chair is existing board member Sheila McHale, a former Labor Party MP who was appointed by past Labor environment minister Stephen Dawson. New member Stephen van Leeuwen has been appointed for a three-year term. Professor van Leeuwan is a botanical ecologist, research scientist, has a background managing threatened flora and fauna, and is a south west Boojarah Wardandi Noongar leader. Board members are paid about $5,000 a year and the chair makes just under $14,000. 

BAYSWATER WAVES has reopened the indoor 25m pool ahead of the Family Fun Day on January 23. Bayswater Waves has been undergoing extensive repairs and improvements and stage one’s now sorted so the 25m indoor pool is up and running again. Accessibility upgrades have been added including a bariatric mobile pool hoist with a 180kg capacity so people can safely enter and exit. Stage two will tackle refurbishing the wave pool. The council recently voted to borrow $1.7m for the upgrades.

A SOCIAL enterprise  given the task of helping restore Australia’s international reputation as a tolerant and diverse mob is heading to Mt Lawley early next month to give locals a taste of WA’s multicultural talent.

World Music Cafe is run through Multicultural Futures (formerly the Fremantle Multicultural Centre) and showcases the depth of talent in WA’s migrant and refugee community, many of whom were stars back home but struggle to reboot their careers in an unfamiliar culture.

The performances also come with a twist; part of the deal is giving migrants the opportunity to learn business catering skills, so there’s always a sit-down meal with an international flavour.

WMC was the brainchild of Jon Cope, who used to run WA’s premier multicultural d Kulcha until it succumbed to the costs of maintaining a heritage building.

Mr Cope says being able to take the talent to the community rather than the other way round has been a recipe for success since he launched WMC in 2019. So much so the organisation recently scored a grant from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to produce a series of short films about its concerts which will be screened in regions Australia hopes to do business with in the future, including southern Africa and South-East Asia.

Mr Cope says despite the Covid hiccup, last year was a great success for WMC, performing nine sell-out shows at the Camelot Theatre in Mosman Park, as well as corporate gigs.

“We started working with mentor chef Nimrod Kazoom, who is awesome and his food is extraordinary.

“It’s great to see the WMC kitchen team of mainly Arabic Lebanese women and the Israeli chef working together so well.”

WMC will be at the Mt Lawley Bowling Club on Friday February 4 for its first performance this year, featuring a pianist whose talents cross between jazz and classical and has seen him become the in-vogue salsa player in Perth despite language barriers.

Moha Builo Michel moved from Cuba last year after falling in love with Australian flautist Annalisa Powell at a Brazilian ‘roda de choro’, a gathering where people come to celebrate the local musical style known in English as “little cry”.

He had a long touring career back home as a soloist with the Santa Catarina Symphony Orchestra, but here in Australia the pair perform as the duo Novos Ares, with a latin repertoire from Cuba, Brazil and Argentina.

Also on the bill for the night is the Red Sea Pedestrians with exuberant Jewish klezmer music which can be heard from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and as far abroad as New York. The pedestrians are led by singing sisters Mel and Nikki Jones and feature Dave and Jen Hoffman on accordion and flute and Jim Elliot on bass.

Making her first solo appearance is Shutong Liu, who’s actually in Perth 

to complete her PhD in plant biology at UWA, but has made a name playing the 21-string traditional Chinese zither known as the guzheng with the Chung Wah Orchestra.

Tickets for the February 3 performance (6.45pm) from worldmusiccafe.com.au/events

By STEVE GRANT

THE maid being manhandled in a Maylands mural has been replaced by a pizza.

Local resident June Winsome Smith had complained one of the scenes on a new mural at Rifo’s cafe was inspired by the 1500s sculpture Abduction of a Sabine Women, a reference to one of Rome’s founding myths when Roman men captured a neighbouring city’s women to make their wives (“A decent lick of paint,” Voice, January 8, 2022).

Artist Ill Withers said there was no intentional reference to the event and the sculpture had been inadvertently chosen as one of many reference images. 

He said he didn’t want even one person to feel uncomfortable about the image since it’s in a public place and changed it the first day he found out about Ms Winsome Smith’s complaint.

“We avoided any heavy subject matter this time,” he reported, “just went with pizza.”

by DAVID BELL

ST BART’S homeless accommodation at Lime Street will be refurbished, incorporating psychology-driven architecture aimed at helping residents with complex needs. 

Perth MP John Carey announced the $1.575 million state funding for the refurb and said “the grant will help St Bart‚Äôs make big improvements to the design and layout of the accommodation complex, as well as upgrade outdoor amenities available to residents.”

Mr Carey, who was allocated the homelessness portfolio in December, said “while there is a significant focus on expanding services through major projects such as our two Common Ground facilities, it’s absolutely critical we maintain the existing infrastructure we have available.”

The Lime Street facility in East Perth specialises in supporting people who’ve experienced chronic homelessness, mental health and substance problems. Some areas will be changed to boost privacy and security, while some areas will be made more open.

The changes incorporate new research into “Psychologically Informed Environment” design, a similar ethos used in the architecture at the upcoming Common Ground facilities. 

PIE design is intended to bolster emotional wellbeing and aid recovery. Noise, light, comfort, temperature and aesthetics are taken into account to make a place feel safe and welcoming, and to avoid resembling an imposing institution that could spark bad memories. 

The changes will include new shared work and social spaces in hopes of encouraging more sense of community among residents, staff and visitors, and floorplans will be rejigged so external agencies can run support clinics on site.

St Bart’s CEO Sam Drury said in her announcement of the works: “Our planned refurbishments will strengthen our ability to deliver Trauma Informed Care and Recovery services and will assist with enhancing psychological and emotional wellbeing outcomes for our consumers and staff.”

The refurbishment is expected to be completed mid-2022, working so as to not interrupt normal services or affect the bed capacity. 

by DAVID BELL

QUENDAS are useful for our urban bushland according to new research from Edith Cowan University, which found their poo is full of helpful fungi. 

Teaming up with scientists from Murdoch and UWA, lead researcher Anna Hopkins said they were surprised to find quenda poo in smaller bushland areas contained a larger variety of fungi.

“Our findings could indicate that quenda in those smaller areas of bushland are venturing out into gardens, yards or even bins and rubbish surrounding their native habitats,” she said.

“We know quenda perform an incredibly important role as ecosystem engineers, digging, eating and spreading important fungi throughout the native bushland we have around Perth.

“The wide variety of fungi we found is great news for our gardens, as it indicates quenda are venturing into gardens around their native habitats to search for food.

“The travelling quenda disperse the fungi through their droppings, which make their way into the soil to colonise plant roots, and can then help the plants absorb nutrients and water.”

She said the small marsupials, which are part of the bandicoot family, “provide this visible and accessible link with the health of the bushland. People can see them and see their digging and evidence of them all around the bushland here in Perth, and even in our backyards”. 

Evidence of a quenda in your garden or local park can be seen in conical holes that mirror the shape of their head alongside the heaps of dirt they excavate.

They can be encouraged into your garden by planting dense, native vegetation.

“One of their favourite habitats is the skirts of grass trees, they’ll shelter there during the day and create little paths to move around,” Dr Hopkins says.

“You can also help by keeping your cats inside at night-time.”

A COMMUNITY forum about North Perth town centre’s megaproject at the corner of Alma and Fitzgerald Streets will be held February 9, with plans for a redesign now that the developer has more space. 

Celsius Developments is holding the meeting and advised locals in a letter that “since our last consultation, the proposed development site has increased in size to take in the remaining Fitzgerald Street lots to the corner of Raglan Road and as such we are now looking to redesign the previous concept for the site”.

Celsius is inviting people “to discuss our site plus your vision for the North Perth town centre overall” at the forum at Park Royal Hall, 180 Charles Street.

It’s on at 5.30pm on February 9, RSVP via info@propertyesp. com.au and they’d like name, number, and address “so we understand where you are located in relation to our development site”.