A VINCENT council candidate who lost last October’s election by one vote has dropped his appeal due to the risk of hefty legal costs if he’s unsuccessful.
At the October 2021 election south ward candidate Joshua O’Keefe received 978 votes, missing out on the spot won by Ross Ioppolo with 979 votes. There were 20 informal votes out of 3282 ballots.
On election night Mr O’Keefe didn’t have a scrutineer present to call for a recount before the returning officer declared the outcome.
Mr O’Keefe took the case to the court of disputed returns but after two initial hearings has called off the challenge due to costs. The full hearing was scheduled for Friday January 14, where a magistrate would’ve had the power to order a recount.
Mr O’Keefe says he decided to drop it after receiving confirmation from the State Solicitors Office that should the case be dismissed, the WAEC will be seeking their costs, which could be $20,000 to $30,000.
Mr O’Keefe told the Voice: “I’m really disappointed in the process and I’m disappointed that the court is the only way you can get an independent review.
“It’s been three or four months now, it’s been such a time consuming and stressful situation. There should be an ombudsman to help you do that outside the legal system with lawyers and such.
“It’s disappointing there’s no other way of review.”
Shortly after the election WA local government minister John Carey released reform proposals for discussion, including an idea for “the introduction of standard processes for vote re-counts if there is a very small margin between candidates (e.g. where there is a margin of less than 10 votes a recount will always be required)”.
Mr O’Keefe supports the move (but reckons a percentage margin is the fairest way given differing council populations) and says it’ll help protect candidates and promote greater community trust in elections.
Meanwhile a former Belmont councillor Janet Powell is also challenging her loss by 10 votes in the court of disputed returns, with her case for a recount to be heard in February.
How the Maylands Waterlands will look, eventually. Concept design by Josh Byrne & Associates.
MAYLANDS Waterlands won’t reopen this summer after delays caused by heavy rainfalls, labour shortages and global supply problems, and a new finish date’s now set for April 15.
Construction started mid-2021 and Bayswater council was originally hoping contractors would finish the first stage of rejuvenation works in time for a summer 2021 reopening.
Siteworks
The December due date’s now slipped by and the council’s announced siteworks and the off-site construction of artwork and waterplay gear are still underway.
If all goes well construction and landscaping will be done by mid-March for the lengthy water testing process to start in time for an Easter holiday reopening.
The $4 million first stage will install new splashpads, but the deeper pools won’t be returned until the yet-to-be funded and still unscheduled stage 2.
Bayswater recently had to take out a hefty loan of $1.5m to continue funding the first stage of Waterlands works. When approving the budget in mid-2021 they’d hoped
to find external funding or a grant but nothing eventuated. When December 2021 rolled around they approved a $1.5m borrowing to keep up with paying contractor invoices.
Bayswater’s had a long history of staying out of debt but mounting pressures to borrow included their many declining assets and community demand for renewed facilities, and very little extra money going around given the meagre increase in their rateable base recently.
At that same December meeting they also voted to borrow $1.7m for the Bayswater Waves refurbishment and $775,000 for the Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.
FUTURE heat waves may be even more unbearable with fewer trees on verges now that Bayswater council’s gutted its tree protection policy.
A split council voted in favour of making it easier for residents to get verge trees removed and harder for the council to plant new ones.
Under the old policy the city would not remove a tree if “the tree is believed to be affecting personal health”, since it was wide open for residents to claim a tree was giving them allergies or stressing them out, and they had no way to determine if one tree was causing allergies given the wind blows pollen long distances.
That’s been scrapped and now believing there’s health impacts is grounds for a tree to be felled.
And a previous policy that street trees wouldn’t be pruned on the grounds that nearby property owners disliked its “appearance or aesthetics” has also been deleted.
Aesthetics
And the old approach to plant one tree on the verge outside each property has been hamstrung: Previously the council would sent out letters advising of upcoming planting, and would go ahead unless a property owner opted out.
It’s switched to an opt-in system and now the council will need to actively obtain owner approval before planting verge trees, which council staff warned would lead to a big drop in uptake.
Cr Elli Petersen-Pik opposed the changes, saying the shift to opt-in verge plantings in particular will make it very hard for the city to meet its target to expand the tree canopy coverage.
“It also goes against our ongoing attempts to improve streetscapes and shade our footpaths to protect pedestrians and cyclists from the sun, and encourage more people to choose sustainable transport modes,” he said.
He cited council staff estimates that pruning verge trees just because an adjacent property owner doesn’t like the aesthetics or leaf drop would cost
$200,000 a year on the conservative end, and many more cases would have to be referred to council for a call over what’s a“reasonable” pruning.
The new rules also take a kid-gloves approach towards tree vandals as council will no longer report cases to WA Police.
Council staff provided three pages of concerns about the implications of the policy changes, but the new rules were voted through by mayor Filomena Piffaretti and supporters Catherine Ehrhardt, Josh Eveson, Assunta Meleca, Steven Ostaszewskyj and Michelle Sutherland. Against the changes were Cr Petersen-Pik, Dan Bull, Giorgia Johnson and Sally Palmer.
In an online newsletter Cr Piffaretti said the tree policy changes were delivering on an election commitment.
“I made a promise during the election that if I, along with my colleague Josh Eveson were elected to council, we would bring back a common-sense approach to tree maintenance and that’s what we’ve done.
“After listening to the community, your new council adopted a practical policy allowing residents to request that trees on their verge be pruned or removed particularly where residents health or safety is concerned.”
Cr Eveson chairs the policy committee that came up with the changes and after the vote he posted on social media saying “my motion applied common sense changes to the city’s Urban Tree Policy”.
IN spite of an after school care shortage one councillor called a “crisis,” Bayswater council has voted along factional lines to sink a proposal to fast-track an additional option.
Bayswater has offered to help Maylands Peninsula Primary School find an Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) venue to cater for its 700 students, whose parents face having just one option in the near future.
In July, the city narrowed its focus to the nearby pavilion at Gibbney Reserve, which is under lease to Football West until January 2024.
FBW has said it’s staying at least until a new State Football Centre is constructed in Canning in mid-2023, and while council staff recommended “continuing to explore options”, councillor Elli Peterson-Pik argued it wouldn’t address the urgency and moved an alternative motion to get cracking on readying the pavilion for kids while FBW sees out its tenure.
While there are dozens of families on waiting lists for after school care, Cr Elli Peterson-Pik said: “I know many more who are not even on the waiting list because there is no point.”
Maylands primary has more than doubled its population since opening, which its board attributes to infill housing and local development.
Initially, three OSHC programs served the school, but Maylands Helping Hands closed down in 2019, while this October the north metro JDAP approved the development of the Maylands Commercial Centre, spelling the closure of the YMCA Early Learning Centre.
That means there could be years where the primary school population of 700 students is serviced by a single program.
“There is no other solution,” said Cr Peterson-Pik of his proposal. But after a five-five vote, mayor Filomena Piffaretti used her casting vote to shoot it down.
Only deputy mayor Catherine Ehrhardt spoke against Cr Peterson-Pik’s proposal, calling it “too strong” because FBW still held the lease for two more years, but the voting went along the lines of a previous item which Cr Peterson-Pik described at the meeting as “political” (“Bull ousted in ‘political’ vote,” Voice, December 18, 2021).
When contacted by the Chook, Cr Ehrhardt said she wanted to maintain a positive relationship with Football West, and thought a move now may be perceived as inappropriate.
When the Chook raised the point that the current lease includes no option to extend, and that FBW had not expressed a wish to stay past January 2024, Cr Ehrhardt said she was not aware of FBW’s plans.
She said she had chosen to accept the officer recommendation since she herself had not liaised with FBW.
In response to the loss of his proposal, Cr Peterson-Pik said, “it is a shame that we did not resolve it today,” and promised to continue raising the issue.
• Cutie pooch Noelle trying out Ozone Reserve’s dog area. Photo by City of Perth
INNER city dog owners are begging for a new spot to walk their dogs off-leash, but the scant number of CBD parks has them competing with other park users for a sliver of space.
Perth city council recently consulted the public on a plan to build a new fenced off-leash dog area and dog owners were near-unanimous in support.
Currently there’s just one small fenced, off-leash area at East Perth’s Ozone Park, and only a couple of other unfenced parks where they’re allowed off leash.
Unfenced
But after examining 50 open spaces in the Perth council domain, there’s almost no other suitable dog spots.
The council doesn’t want to stick dog parks in sensitive spots like Aboriginal heritage sites, parks with historical significance, or areas with wildlife and native vegetation.
That ruled out places like Heirisson Island, Wellington Square, or Queens Garden, and only three parks were deemed suitable: JH Abrahams Park in Crawley, a small patch of sloped ground named “Railway Reserve” in Claisebrook, or making the Ozone Reserve area a bit bigger.
Ozone Reserve
Given that too many residents opposed fencing off part of JH Abrahams Reserve, council staff recommended expanding Ozone Reserve and installing fencing at Railway Reserve. Councillors vote to decide whether to go ahead with the $140,000 plan at the December 21 meeting.
Former mayor Dan Bull didn’t get back onto a state government committee, despite his ward being most affected by its activities, a decision another councillor said made him “embarrassed”. File photo.
FORMER Bayswater mayor Dan Bull has been ousted from an influential state government committee following a narrow and controversial vote from fellow councillors.
The vote reflected a shifting balance of power since October’s election, with councillor Elli Petersen-Pik describing itas an unprofessional and“unprecedented” politicised vote.
Cr Bull previously represented Bayswater on the DevelopmentWA Midland Land Redevelopment Committee that’s overseeing massive changes to Bayswater as part of the state government’s urban renewal plan.
After October’s election the council was due to refresh the three nominees it puts forward to state lands minister Tony Buti, who’ll chose one to sit on the committee.
Mayor Filomena Piffaretti and deputy mayor Catherine Ehrhardt were the first two nominees due to their positions, but tense debate erupted at the December meeting over filling the third spot, which was contested by Cr Bull and newcomer Josh Eveson, a supporter of the new mayor.
Cr Bull said his past experience on the committee would serve him well and he was a councillor for west ward, the area most impacted by the changes.
Cr Ehrhardt suggested Cr Eveson get the spot since he was a representative on another state body, the joint development assessment panel.
A narrow majority voted 6:4 in favour of Cr Eveson, who won support from Crs Piffaretti, Ehrhardt, Steven Ostascewkyj, Michelle Sutherland and Assunta Meleca.
The three nominees are all widely perceived as more pro-development than Cr Bull, and all were in the camp favouring Cr Piffaretti to take over the mayoral spot from Cr Bull.
Cr Petersen-Pik said at the meeting: “I am embarrassed for this council. I have never seen such a political vote like I’ve seen tonight.
“It was not professional. I am embarrassed to see what I saw. This is unprecedented. I don’t recall any previous example where we’ve had a committee or a working group where we excluded ward councillors from that committee.
“I have never seen something like this during the last four years on council and I think it is a shame to see this.”
Cr Bull said it was “highly disappointing” that a councillor representing the ward most affected by the project wasn’t nominated (though Cr Eveson, a north ward rep, said he is a long-time west ward resident).
“It is disappointing that this council has discounted the amount of work I have put in,” Cr Bull said.
“The choice that councillors are making here is: Not nominate someone who’s put a year’s worth of hard work into this and has the corporate knowledge to see the project – that’s halfway through completed – [and nominate] someone who has been on council for two months.”
Cr Piffaretti said Cr Bull being a west warder shouldn’t be a big factor in deciding who to nominate.
“The decision that this committee is responsible for impacts the entire City of Bayswater,” the mayor said. “It impacts our local economy, it impacts our growth, it impacts our environment, it impacts our infrastructure, it impacts our road networks, it impacts our housing options and housing affordability, it impacts out jobs.
“Future generations will be impacted by these decisions. To say that the nominee is only appropriate due to them living in the area I think is a very flawed rationale.”
MEMBERS of Perth’s faith groups were due to gather outside Wesley United Church in the CBD on December 17 to sing reworked versions of Christmas carols calling for firmer action on climate change.
Australian Religious Response to Climate Change WA president Geoffrey Bice said “while we may be singing some light-hearted carols today, we hold deep concerns about the lack of action in WA to prevent the worst climate impacts.
“WA has major expansions of the gas industry on the cards, while at the same time the International Energy Agency this year called for ‘no new fossil fuel supply projects’ and the IPCC modelling requires an immediate decline in the use of gas to keep within a 1.5C temperature rise.
“How then is it morally responsible to forge ahead with expansions of the gas industry? When will the WA government draw the line and stop approving new fossil fuel developments?”
Susy Thomas is moderator of the Uniting Church WA, one of the ARRCC’s member groups: “How can we justify to our children, to the people of the Pacific, to the vulnerable in our community who will continue to suffer through heatwaves and other weather extremes, that it is morally ok to expand a practice we know is going to cause harm,” she asked.
Quakers, too, have joined the effort to sing for change: “Perth plays host to head offices for some of the biggest polluters in the country,” Quakers Australia presiding clerk Ann Zubrick said.
“It is disturbing to us and to many Western Australians that, on the back of international climate talks, Woodside have announced their plans to open a huge new gas field.”
Islam Bouyahia was in tears at the thought of losing the business he built up in Hyde Park.
Tears as What the Flip loses its spot at Hyde Park
A BUSINESS owner was brought to tears by a Vincent council decision that’ll see his food van banned from operating in Hyde Park.
Vincent council will instead lease a storage shed in part of the park’s western building to the operators of Mount Lawley’s Veggie Mama for $30,000 a year; the lowest end of the estimated $30,000 to $60,000 market value. The council will also pay $55,000 to upgrade the building, and the tenant gets nine months rent free and pays no water or electricity bills for the first five-year term.
The new kiosk has also been given exclusive rights to the park, and the three food vans operating there will have to move out. The council’s mobile vendor policy says food vans can’t operate within 100m ofa permanent food business, and they’ve decided to apply it even when moving in a new operation.
What the Flip van owner Islam Bouyahia had pleaded with Vincent council to allow him to stay.
Councillors Ashley Wallace, Ross Ioppolo and Ron Alexander opposed the kiosk plan, but Cr Alexander was prevented from voting due to living too close to the park. A majority of councillors; Alex Castle, Susan Gontaszewski, Jonathan Hallett, Dan Loden and mayor Emma Cole voted in favour of the kiosk to the exclusion of all others.
As the vote dawned on Mr Bouyahia he was overcomeby emotion, standing up in the public gallery and telling councillors running a business is “not easy! It’s not easy!”
He howled: “It’s not right! This is not right!” as mayor Emma Cole asked him to leave the chamber.
Security arrived and Mr Bouyahia left with them, then they locked the council building’s doors.
Cr Gontaszewski said the original intent of the food van policy was not to give businesses a permanent spot.
Ms Cole said from the council’s consultation it was clear that people wanted a food offering in Hyde Park, but she believed the kiosk in an existing building was a less obtrusive way to go about it than having food trucks right by the lake.
She clarified the kiosk would have meat options and ice cream, and said the initial plan for occasional liquor licences for special events was now off the table and the lease required no liquor be sold there.
“I do feel for Izzy and What the Flip, and I understand the passion he brings to his business and the offering it attracts,” Ms Cole said.
“We would love to see him operating at Banks Reserve.”
Outside Mr Bouhayia was in tears as supporters consoled him, and he said this would be the end of his business as he relied on the loyal customer base he’d built up at Hyde Park.
A NEW easy-access vaccination clinic’s opened up in Northbridge after the major vaccine hub at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre had to close due to upcoming events bookings.
The PCEC hub delivered some 123,000 vaccinations since receiving its first batch of vaccines in March this year.
The new 16-booth Northbridge clinic is at 30 Beaufort Street, on the corner of Roe Street, and no appointments are necessary.
Health minister Roger Cook said the spot had accessible parking and public transport was right nearby, adding “as we transition towards opening our borders, now is the time to get vaccinated and protect our loved ones, friends and community”.
• Voice journalist Lachie Allen had a close brush with testicular cancer. Photo by Steve Grant
WITH Movember recently putting the spotlight on men’s health, particularly cancer, it felt the right time to chronicle my own recent experience with testicular cancer.
A word of advice for all men, but especially young men, is to be vigilant of any strange lumps on your nuts; push past the awkward embarrassment and have it checked by your GP, and to be unwaveringly insistent on an ultrasound. It may save your life.
As a young man of 22 years, I felt the invincibility common amongst those my age. So the threat of cancer was never really on my mind.
For now, I could enjoy my youth more or less free of concern. Well, I’ve learnt that life can be unpredictable.
Awkward
Sometimes it grips you by the balls and next thing you know you’ve lost one to cancer.
Three years ago I went to a doctor because of a lump I’d found on a testicle.
I walked into the consultation room to speak with my GP and with an awkward sigh explained what I had found, to which I was promptly told to drop my dacks and lay on a bed.
After a quick fondle and a urine sample, he told me it was nothing to worry about – just an infection.
I was prescribed antibiotics and sent on my way.
As most of us do, I trusted my GP’s diagnosis, took my antibiotics and left it at that.
I saw two more GPs, but neither picked up on it being cancerous. They all dismissed it as cyst or infection and investigated no further.
It wasn’t until this year, when in a passing conversation with a good friend’s dad, a doctor himself, that it was mentioned.
He told me to come to his practice for a check-up.
When I went to see him, he had a squeeze and said it was likely fine, but we ought to make sure.
He sent me off for a load of blood tests and importantly referred me for an ultrasound.
I did the bloods, but before I could go for the ultrasound, he called me back.
He sat me down and with a heavy heart told me I had testicular cancer.
The blood tests had shown that I had an incredibly high rate of Alpha-feta Protein which, in men, is a common marker for a testicular tumour.
The next few weeks went by in a bit of a dream haze. It didn’t quite feel real.
I had an ultrasound and MRI to confirm it was cancer.
They found the original tumour had metastasised and spread to my lymph nodes, basically meaning I now had multiple tumours.
I was sent to a urologist, who explained to my folks and I what type of testicular cancer it was, and what to expect going forward.
After hearing my story, he said the original lump I had found three years prior was likely to have been cancerous yet still contained.
This meant if any of the other GPs had referred me for an ultrasound I wouldn’t have had to go through chemo.
In the space of a couple of days I went from a doctor’s room to surgery to remove the malignant testicle and then nine weeks of chemotherapy.
I felt continuously nauseous and exhausted.
I lost my hair in patches, as my body bloated and swelled from the fluid and steroids they pump into you.
It’s been over a month now since I finished my treatment, my hair is growing back, I’m slowly recovering my energy and trying to get life on track, but the lingering physical effects, the fact I’ll have to spend the next five years if not the rest of my life constantly aware I’m more vulnerable to cancer, and the knowledge that I’m not in the clear just yet have admittedly left their toll on my physical and mental health.
I share my story for awareness.
Awareness
Testicular cancer is not a common cancer, and luckily has a high survival rate, being around 95 per cent.
However, it is the most common cancer in men of my age group, that being from 18 to 25.
Since my diagnosis, one thing I’ve noticed in young men was a lack of understanding and awareness of what to look for.
Even I knew very little about until recently.
Had I known more three years ago and been more proactive in getting it treated, my cancer wouldn’t have spread.
Luckily it seems to have been caught in time, but there are other men who haven’t been so lucky.
I implore young men to not only get themselves checked if they find a lump, but to ensure they aren’t just brushed away by their GP, to ensure that they get the necessary blood tests and the ultrasound.
Cast aside your embarrassment and insist for the ultrasound that may end up saving your life.
Perth Voice Interactive 