Perth Voice Interactive

HE’S performed around the world with Cirque Du Soleil and the Australian Ballet, but now Robbie Curtis is coming home to star in not one, but three Fringe World shows.

His versatility is perhaps best showcased In the Arms of Morpheus, an entertaining mix of comedy, magic and physicality.Inspired by the Greek ‘God of dreams’ Morpheus, Curtis examines how the world has had a “collective wobble” during the past 18 months, obsessing over news, devices and exercise.

The show blends storytelling and contemporary circus with Curtis putting in a physical shift for the full 50 minutes.

If you prefer satire and social commentary, then Assume People Like You will be right up your street.

Curtis takes aim at the shallow and sometimes toxic world of social media and online dating, where a ‘Like’ has become a vernacular for friendship, relationship or even a dismissive ‘yeah maybe’.

The show ponders if a robot can be Liked? Can an alien be a friend? Perhaps it is easier to swipe right and just assume people like you.

An absurdist pop at the modern Internet world, Curtis plays Melon the Human with circus skills and dry awkward wit.

f you have kids and they are driving you nuts over the school holidays, then A Bee Story could be a welcome reprieve.

Queen bee and worker bee need to learn how to work together to rebuild their hive after a bushfire, but things never quite go to plan… The unique show fuses circus, acrobatics, dance and live music, so the kids will have plenty of action to keep them entertained.

But behind the physicality is a serious message about environmentalism, sustainability and community spirit.

A Bee Story was directed by Curtis and co-created with musician and performer Lizzie McRae. Curtis started off as a juggler, before moving on to gymnastics and dance.

He studied in Wellington at the highly acclaimed New Zealand School of Dance.

He’s known for his unique style, mixing dance and circus, and in 2020 founded ARC Circus, an international performing arts company.

Fringe World 2022 is on from January 14 – February 13 in Perth.

For more info and tix for In the Arms of Morpheus, Assume People Like You and A Bee Story go to fringeworld.com.au

By Stephen Pollock

HYDE PARK’S food vans would be turfed out and Veggie Mama given exclusive rights to serve food in the park under a plan being pondered by Vincent council.

Vincent staff have recommended councillors vote to lease the west end storage shed to Veggie Mama for $30,000 a year, at the lowest end of the estimated $30,000 to $60,000 market value.

Veggie Mama would also get a nine-month rent free period, council pays for water and power, an “exclusivity clause” would mean the three regular food trucks would have to leave, and the public purse would pay $55,000 to upgrade the west end storage shed to get it ready for Veggie Mama to install their kitchen. 

That’s despite council’s initial plan in May stating “the cost of upgrades will be the responsibility of the successful respondent”.The lease terms also allow them to apply to the state liquor department for occasional liquor licences for events.

Veggie Mama was chosen out of five tenderers and deemed by council staff to be the best deal. 

Food van supporters lined up to speak at this week’s council briefing to oppose the plan. Nearby resident Stephen Graves said “the terms of that lease seem extraordinarily generous that’s nine months free rental. I’ve never heard of this.”

Islam Bouyahia runs What the Flip food van and said he’d spent years building up a customer base and had made many friends in the community.

“I’m not against any competitors,” he said. “I’m against unfair competition,” taking issue with the exclusivity clause and the generous bonuses that have now appeared in the final lease terms. 

Competitors

He says the food van operates on thin margins and having to leave the park would be the end of his business. A French migrant born in Algeria, he says he has no other support here and predicts he’ll be homeless within months if he loses his loyal customers at Hyde Park. 

“As an orphan, my community of City of Vincent has adopted me and given me work – given me the only family I have,” he told the Voice.

“It is very unfair that we are asked to move out for a biased tender that has been modified.”

He said he would have applied for the tender if he knew the council would pay for building upgrades and give so much free rent. 

Twisted fabric

“People are now shocked to read that tenancy agreement – the whole thing feels like it twisted the fabric of reality.”

Councillors raised a few questions at this week’s council briefing ahead of their upcoming vote on December 14.

Councillor Ross Ioppolo questioned whether it was a good look for council to be favouring one business to the detriment of others. 

The Veggie Mama deal is financially beneficial to the council even with all the freebies: The three food vans pay $800 a year for a permit to operate there, compared to Veggie Mama’s proposed $30,000. He also asked whether they ought consult Whadjuk people on the proposal given the site’s significance. 

Mayor Emma Cole foreshadowed she’d move to shorten the rent-free period at the upcoming meeting, suggesting it should only apply until the council’s renovations were done.

By DAVID BELL

A SECOND storey on an inner-city Perth house has been described by some neighbours as threatening more than a century of heritage and tradition in the preserved rows of workers cottages.

The Brookman and Moir Street precinct contains 58 workers cottages built around the 1897-1898 gold rush. The modest houses 

on smallish blocks were designed for tradesman, and it’s the last example of a whole neighbourhood of intact working class accommodation from those days.

Over the years residents fought for heritage listings, getting it on the Vincent heritage inventory in 1995 and then the state register in 2007. In 2017 the precinct won the award of distinction in UNESCO’s cultural heritage conservation awards. 

Now one owner plans to turn his cottage into a two-storey, five-bedroom house. Alan Stewart, an urban planner, says it’s a respectful design that supports a modern family and the second storey will be “barely visible”.

Seven neighbours lodged submissions against the plan, with concerns it’ll disrupt what makes the street unique and set a precedent for similar developments. Three others had concerns, and it’s up for a vote at the next Vincent council meeting on December 14.

Resident Marion Granich spoke at this week’s council briefing, telling councillors “all of the heritage documentation for this precinct, including the City of Vincent’s own heritage guidelines, refers again and again to the precinct’s modest working class housing, its uniformity, and its homogeneity”.

She said: “Because the whole precinct is uniform row housing, approving a development of significantly greater scale and size really matters.

“A two-storey, five-bedroom, two-living room proposal would destroy the uniformity of this wonderful precinct of row housing which is heritage listed precisely because of its modest scale.”

Mr Stewart spoke in defence of the plans saying “if council is looking for an exemplar 

of heritage conservation and contemporary sustainable architecture that respects the streetscape and heritage fabric of this area, then this is the best example you’ll find.

“The design has been supported on two occasions now: At the State Heritage Office, and [by] the city’s own independent heritage expert.”

He said “the height of the addition satisfies the Brookman and Moir Street guidelines and it is not visible over the roof of the existing house when viewed by a pedestrian on the opposite side of the street, exactly as the guidelines require it to be measured”.

The designs are outside the usual deemed-to-comply standards on several fronts so will need councillors to exercise discretion before it can go ahead.

It’ll have slightly less open space and smaller setbacks from neighbours than are usually required, and it’ll overshadow the southern property by 35 per cent instead of the usual maximum of 25 per cent. 

Before the vote on December 14 the council will clarify whether the potentially overshadowed owner still approves of the plan given they’d supported an earlier version.

by DAVID BELL

HYDE PARK’S lakes took on an alarming hue this week, but an expert tells us it’s no cause for concern yet.

A large part of the western lake has a thick green covering and the eastern lake has a reddish crust over most of it, evocative of algal blooms of past years and leading passersby to comment their concerns about the baby ducks making their way through the muck. One park-goer worriedly stated the lake was so red it looked like a gravel road. 

But the Voice bumped into horticulturalist John Viska who said the majority of the covering wasn’t algae, but plants. 

The red matter is azolla filiculoides (water fern) and the green matter looks to be lemna minor, a duckweed that the ducks eat, with a little bit of algae floating among it. 

“They’re spontaneous germinations because the conditions are absolutely ripe,” he says. “Water temperature, mainly: As the water temperature increases they start to germinate,” likely from spores that blew in. 

Vincent mayor Emma Cole consulted the council parks team and they came to the same conclusion as Mr Viska. 

“Our parks team have reassured me the lakes are Hyde Park are in good health and pose no cause for concern,” Ms Cole says.

“The presence of these plants in our lakes do not indicate poor water quality. 

“However, the abundance of their growth may be a result of the high rainfall received over winter which may have washed extra nutrients into the lakes.

“Vincent has engaged a consultant to undertake quarterly water monitoring of the lakes and initial results indicate that the water quality is good with slightly elevated nutrients levels however, subsequent sampling is required to confirm this.

“The aquatic plants will assist in removing the excess nutrients from the water as well as provide habitat and food for our aquatic wildlife.”

Ms Cole says the plants are 

a seasonal occurrence, though we can’t recall seeing this much covering in recent years. She says the parks team will keep monitoring the lakes and take action if needed.

by DAVID BELL

BAYSWATER council will lose CEO Andrew Brien who formally tendered his resignation one day before the final meeting of 2021. 

After four years at Bayswater Mr Brien will take up a new gig as CEO at Kalgoorlie-Boulder, serving his last day at Bayswater February 25. 

Councillors scrambled at the December 7 meeting to get through several items of urgent business, including setting up a CEO recruitment committee and to set the wheels in motion to find an external consultant to help them find a replacement CEO. 

In a December 6 letter to mayor Filomena Piffaretti, Mr Brien referred to advising the mayor last week of his decision and said “it is with extreme reluctance that I am formally tendering my resignation as Chief Executive Officer with the City of Bayswater. 

Regional 

“As I have previously advised, this decision is not one that I have made lightly and whilst I was very much looking forward to working with you and your team over the next two years, an opportunity to move back into regional local government is something that I am passionate about.” 

Mr Brien previously served as Bunbury CEO. 

It’s tough timing as Cr Piffaretti is only six weeks into her role after winning a 6:5 vote to take the mayoral chains from Cr Dan Bull. 

Mr Brien made clear he’d made this decision before October’s election. 

“I have enjoyed the working relationship with yourself, firstly as the deputy mayor and more recently as the mayor and have really appreciated the support that you have provided to me. 

“In our discussions over the last few weeks I have made it clear that this is a decision that was made prior to the local government elections and this was confirmed with the timeframes around the recruitment process for the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.” 

He said he’d miss the executive team, the staff, and “the opportunity to work with you as mayor in taking the council forward over the next few years. In the last month there has already been a positive change in focus and direction of the council and I believe that this will continue to provide the momentum that is required to take the city to the next level, this shift in focus has made my decision to resign even more difficult”. 

Mr Brien acknowledged his resignation would cause challenges and said he’d step up admin support for the mayor and councillors to ease the transition. 

He’ll be on the same band of pay in Kalgoorlie-Boulder with a total package between $250,000 and $379,000 – likely to be on the upper end of that. 

They’ve given him a five-year contract and Mr Brien is replacing John Walker, who left in October after being suspended for workplace misconduct allegations. 

by DAVID BELL 

AFTER more than a year of searching for an Aboriginal name for the new extension of Stephenson Avenue, it will be named “Stephenson Avenue”.

The Stephenson Avenue extension linking the road to the Mitchell Freeway and then further north to Cedric Street is the centrepiece of Stirling council’s plan to become a second city centre of Perth. 

In December 2020 mayor Mark Irwin won council’s support for his motion to find a Noongar name for the whole of Stephenson Avenue and its new extension, to “demonstrate council’s commitment to reconciliation”. 

He said: “Stephenson Avenue is the main road unlocking this land potential and future CBD developments. 

“Celebrating Stirling’s rich Aboriginal history and culture by renaming the main road will go towards demonstrating Council’s strong commitment to reconciliation. It will serve as a constant reminder that reconciliation is an ongoing process for all in the community.”

They researched suitable names and consulted the Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group, Landgate, and the intergovernmental project steering group, and came up with three names: 

• Koortaboodjar Avenue, after the Noongar word for heartland;

• Yellagonga Avenue, named for the Whadjuk Noongar leader and peacemaker who hunted in the area at the time of colonisation;

 • Wandjoo Avenue, after the Noongar word for welcome. 

But at the next council meeting in February 2021 former councillor Paul Collins tore into the renaming plan. 

He said once a road was named in a person’s honour, it was an insult to remove the name in the absence of wrongdoing, and it would “dishonour Professor Gordon Stephenson”, who co-wrote with Alastair Hepburn the 1955 Plan for the Metropolitan Region of Perth and Fremantle which is still influential in city planning today.

Backlash

That backlash seemed to put councillors off the plan: The idea was informally killed off behind closed doors at a secret elected members’ workshop held in May, and made official with a public vote from councillors this week. Even Mr Irwin abandoned the plan. 

Giving just the yet-to-be-built extension a Noongar name has also been canned, despite support from Landgate, the Project Steering Group and the RAP working group. A staff report to councillors says renaming just the extension could lead to “confusion for road users”.

Instead they’ll keep the three Noongar names on file for other spots in the new Stirling city centre, “such as public plazas and gardens”. 

Earlier this year Mr Collins also led the charge against now-shelved plans to rename the City of Stirling, which is named after Governor James Stirling who led the Pinjarra Massacre.

No schemer

COMPARED to governor Stirling, Gordon Stephenson is an uncontroversial figure to anyone except 1950s-era McCarthyists. 

Born into a working class Liverpool family in 1908, he had socialist leanings and visited the Soviet Union in the 1930s out of an interest in their large infrastructure projects, and when returning to Liverpool he joined a relief committee for refugees fleeing German fascism. 

Historians Jenny Gregory and David L.A. Gordon wrote that Stephenson believed rational town planning was the key to building a just post-war society. 

After co-writing the 1955 plan for Perth he attempted to take up a job at MIT. 

But his socialist sympathies and trips to the Soviet Union saw him fall under suspicion by McCarthyists and he was unable to secure the job. He’d eventually return to Perth and pen plans for Midland and Joondalup town centres and plan the Murdoch university and the expansion of UWA, and lived here until his death in 1997. 

MAJOR crash investigators are calling for dash-cam or mobile footage that might shed light on a crash last Sunday (December 5) that left a 64-year-old man with serious hand injury.

The man’s white Hyundai iX35 LM collided with a silver Hyundai Accent driven by a woman in her 50s, around 7.35am at the intersection of Lord and Newcastle Streets.

Anyone with information can upload their vision to https://wapf.au.evidence.com/axon/citizen/public/lordstreetcrash