Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH lord mayor Basil Zempilas says his council was left out of the loop over a McGowan government plan to lease a hostel for rough sleepers – which has left the premier with egg on his face.

On Sunday Mark McGowan announced the government would house 100 people in a “Wellington Street facility”, but it turned out it didn’t have a lease, the old 1940s ambulance building building was being sold for possible redevelopment, and was already being used by a youth hostel.

Mr Zempilas said he was “surprised” not to have heard from the government about the plan, particularly as the city had been a one-time partner in combatting homelessness.

The council’s now-retired state-appointed commissioners had been on a joint working group for about a year, but the new council elected in October wasn’t consulted at all.

Mr Zempilas put out a statement saying he’d been contacted by ratepayers asking for clarity, with people wanting to know if security and support services had been engaged and if there was a back-up plan if there was overflow.

“The reality is I can’t give them any because I’m disappointed to say we were not consulted on this decision,” Mr Zempilas said.

“If this announcement can be read as the government of WA stepping up to accept responsibility for people who are experiencing homelessness, that is very welcome. But given we have been very active in this space at considerable expense, I am surprised there was no consultation.” 

In November, with the prospect of the state government’s Common Ground solution still years away and nearly 300 people sleeping on the street in its boundaries, the council voted to fund “Safe Night Spaces”. These were support centres without beds where people could hang out during the night. A $575,000 refit of the Rod Evans Centre has seen it converted to a space for 30 women.

The council is after a state government contribution of $4.5m to help run the centres but hadn’t any commitment when the hostel solution was announced.

Following the Wellington Street gaffe, community services minister Simone McGurk said the government was still looking at other possible venues, leaving Mr Zempilas scratching his head about how it might impact on the council’s safe night space or potential co-funding.

by DAVID BELL

EVEN Vincent’s Big Blue Head got masked up in line with the state’s Covid decree.

Artist Sarah Chopra’s mask addition for Ken Sealey’s “Beseech” sculpture on Loftus Street is one of the projects funded by Vincent council’s “arts relief grants” from last year. 

$151,000 was spread across 16 projects aimed at supporting artists as their usual gigs dried up during the covid pandemic, including the coronavirus video game we featured last month (“Gamers on a roll,” Voice, January 16 2021).

The mask, funded for $655, took a while to get off the ground because of contracting and invoicing delays and late last year the council’s Covid committee got a little concerned about the “relevance of project” given how rosy the situation looked in WA.

But a conveniently timed five day lockdown gave time for the artist to get busy at home with a regular domestic sewing machine, and a conveniently timed edict to wear a mask 

in public gave it continued relevance as Bluey’s mask went up this week.

HYDE PARK’S surrounding residents have come to the defence of the park’s grass, saying it’s disappearing under an onslaught of gravel and ivy.

At Vincent council’s February 9 AGM of electors, resident Ron Alexander estimated there was “700 per cent more gravel in Hyde Park” compared to five years ago. 

Paul Kotsoglo says the council’s parks team kept the gravel paths clean with leafblowers, but the swirling leaves and dust ended up in their homes.

Mr Kotsoglo said runoff from the gravel wasn’t good for water quality in Hyde’s lakes, while the remaining “diminishing areas of grass” were struggling to cope with overuse. 

The ivy ground cover is also unpopular, acting as a habitat for rats and hiding place for dog poo.

Resident Brian Easton agreed with a motion to create a new Hyde Park masterplan and working group, “to stop the changing complexion of what we are starting to call ‘Gravel Park’”.

Jewel

Former mayor Nick Catania backed their calls. In his time as mayor he said the council secured millions in government funding “to ensure that Hyde Park remained the jewel in the crown of Vincent” via extensive restoration works. 

“To see it fall to rack and ruin … is a shame, because a lot of money has been spent,” he said, including private money with the North Perth Community Bank (which he chaired) putting in $50,000 to help secure the government funding. 

Mr Alexander said “not for a moment do I presume this council isn’t keen on Hyde Park and hasn’t been doing its best,” but current works needed more oversight. 

“I think there’s been too much delegation,” Mr Easton said, and Mr Kotsoglo queried “when were the changes that are currently being undertaken ever approved by council?”

The unanimously-supported motion to cease the gravel and ivy spread and bring in experts for a new Hyde Park masterplan will go to councillors for consideration in March.

by DAVID BELL

PLANS for a skate and scooter park in Mount Hawthorn has been warmly welcomed to cater for a boom of tweens in the suburb.

Perth state Labor MP John Carey raised the idea last year and has now finished a survey asking locals if they like the plan and their preferred spot.

While Bayswater council’s plan for a new all-ages skate park has caused some discontent from residents concerned about skater stereotypes, Vincent’s one for younger kids gained huge support: Of 217 respondents to the survey 88 per cent were in favour, 5 per cent were neutral, and only 7 per cent were opposed.

Mr Carey says: “There’s a massive child boom in Vincent and we want to invest in facilities that get kids outside.”

Vincent mayor Emma Cole says the council’s keen for the park, with more things for young kids identified as a priority in its public open space strategy.

Local mum Julia Wilcox says Mount Hawthorn’s a good, safe suburb for a skate and scoot park for younger kids, and if it’s in an open visible area she’d have peace of mind sending pre-teen kids. 

The final spot is yet to be settled but there’s five on the table, with surveyors slightly favouring Britannia Reserve 

(either up at the car park near Litis Stadium or down near the tennis club), followed by Charles Veryard Reserve, Axford Park then Blackford Street Reserve. Vincent council will run a working group to figure out those details. 

$200,000’s been announced as an election pledge by Labor for the skatepark, part of a half million dollar package of sports funding for the area including cash for Mt Hawthorn Cardinals to expand junior girls’ sports, $100,000 for netball courts at Robertson Park tennis courts (Vincent’s first full netball courts, for North Perth Dynamites practice), and $100,000 towards a basketball court with skatey bits at Birdwood Square. 

by DAVID BELL

A NEW pedestrian crossing’s been pledged for Charles Street near the corner of Albert Street – one of the inner-suburbs’ least walker-friendly roads.

The 24-hour green light crossing will go where the old school crossing used to be.

Residents have been calling for something to be done to make it less hostile for pedestrians as the street acts as an unnerving 60kmh divide between the two halves of the neighbourhood. A couple of years ago one guerrilla resident even put up handmade signs facing the road imploring drivers to consider public transport instead of cruising through the suburb. 

Perth state Labor MP John Carey announced the new crossing as an election commitment worth $600,000.

It came out of a pedestrian survey he ran in mid-2020 shortly after a new Woolworths development was approved a short ways to the north.

“It’s been quite evident from that survey that there’s been a particular concern: Crossing Charles Street.”

He said the crossing proposal “has been strongly welcomed by the local community. It is a crossing for kids to get to North Perth Primary School, [and] it is a natural crossing point point for people to access Charles Veryard Reserve.”

“It is a significant investment… it is costing $600,000 and I get a lot of people saying ‘why does it cost so much to do a green light crossing?’

“Part of it is underground works and access to electricity, so unfortunately sometimes it can appear simple and it’s not.”

The timeframe’s dependent on Main Roads but he’s hoping to get it sorted within the next year. 

by DAVID BELL

FORMER mayor Nick Catania was back in Vincent chambers this week urging the council to continue picking up business rubbish bins.

The one-time shadow police minister told the current council it would cost traders too much to switch to another collector.

Last September the council voted to cancel commercial collection as of mid-2021.

The move was sparked by the impending “FOGO” three bin system, deemed unworkable at business premises which can already have dozens of bins if they’re on the large side.

A secondary reason was the council’s plan to send zero waste to landfill by 2028, and commercial bins having higher contamination rates makes¬†that harder to reach.

Last year Vincent staff estimated most businesses would save money by going to a commercial provider, with only one of the four sample businesses presented to councillors being slightly worse off.

Small business owner Cam Sinclair told this week’s Vincent AGM that one of his fellow Stirling Street traders, Camera Electronic, had run the numbers and estimated they could end up paying $7,000 more per year to get their bins picked up.

The council is offering businesses a $520 rebate in the first year, and will consider them in future years. But Mr Catania said given “the plight, onus and burden on small businesses having to pay for collection, $520 is a meagre amount.”

He said along with the cost, the decision would mean extra trucks through Vincent’s streets as various contractors rolled through, and he said it wouldn’t even help minimise landfill waste, just the amount that Vincent council is responsible for on paper.

“You can’t stop private contractors,” from trucking the rubbish out to landfill.

“So the council doesn’t even achieve one of the ends it wanted to achieve,” Mr Catania said.

Mayor Emma Cole said it wasn’t an easy decision, but the council couldn’t afford to run a full commercial service. 

“The current commercial service is outdated, it is an add-on to our residential service” and wasn’t compatible with FOGO, with new trucks needed if they were to pick up commercial bins.

Mr Sinclair said “it does sound like you’ve made up your mind, this is going to come hell or high water,” but he moved a motion requesting the council rescind the plan and continue picking up commercial waste.

If the city couldn’t keep picking up business rubbish he asked for the roll-back to be delayed by a year to give businesses time to prepare for the transition. 

He suggested the council could “act as agent” on behalf of the city’s 2111 businesses, using its knowledge and the bargaining power to set up a good group deal rather than each business having to go it alone.

Alternatively he asked if Vincent would seek a neighbouring council to extend its collection service over the border. Perth’s garbos already service the council-run Beatty Park Leisure Centre.

The motion was carried unanimously by electors, and will appear as an item for councillors to consider at one of the next few meetings. 

by DAVID BELL

A SEVEN-STOREY apartment to be built over Maylands’ former Lyric Theatre on Eighth Avenue has been approved.

The development assessment panel’s approval allowing demolition of the roof, interior, and parts of the theatre’s external walls while keeping the front facade, pokes a couple of holes in Bayswater council’s “category 2” heritage ranking bestowed on the building a year ago.

That classification said the old Lyric had a “high degree” of authenticity and said 

“conservation of the place is highly desirable. Any alterations or extensions should reinforce the significance of the place”.

The developers, Australian Development Capital, say the building’s “unique character and history is something we plan to incorporate and celebrate in the redevelopment”, while extra residents and a green laneway would help liven up Maylands.

A condition of approval requires photographs of the building be taken for Bayswater council’s archival records. 

During consultation 24 Maylands locals supported it and 16 objected, with concerns including the height being above the usual limit and the loss of theatre heritage.

by DAVID BELL

SCHOOL going back can be one of the hardest times of year for struggling families as they try to send kids out the door with everything they need.

As schools went back a week late, Northbridge-based Women’s Health & Family Services ran their yearly event providing free haircuts, backpacks, lunch boxes and drink bottles for clients ahead of the start of term, ordering 200 packs to meet demand.

WH&FS CEO Felicite Black says it’s a tough period as “it’s right after Christmas, and often mums who work have the triple whammy of childcare and school holiday programs costing money” right after Christmas.

There’s been an increased demand for many of WH&FS’s services over the past year as Covid-19 disrupted the economy and society.

“I don’t think we’re alone,” Ms Black says, with many not-for-profits in homelessness and health sectors seeing a surge. “Places like that have all noticed that need has gone up.”

When the first lockdown started in 2020 Mr Black says “we saw an increase in inquiries to us immediately for family domestic violence support and assistance” as women sought help and refuge away from violent partners.

“That was across the board. When Perth went into lockdown in March and April our telephone inquiries went up significantly, and the ripple effects are still being felt, there’s still much greater demand.”

She says the lack of housing is dire, with too few beds in refuges and a shortage of rental accommodation. 

“The rental vacancy rate is less than 1 per cent; the worst it’s been in WA, so even if women did want to make their escape and start again, where do you even find a place to live? 

“Then there’s a whole lot of homeless people who need wraparound support and accommodation, so this is looming as a very big issue in WA.” 

She says when the Covid-era rules preventing tenant evictions end in March, rents are predicted to go up 10 to 20 per cent. 

Inequality

Last week Oxfam released the report The Inequality Virus which found globally the pandemic “has had particularly severe impacts on women,” ethnic minorities and poor people, while the very wealthy go untouched or even get richer. 

Women are more likely to have had hours cut or to have lost jobs in industries most affected.

Ms Black says it’s been felt here too: “All of these things snowball and cascade,” and the pandemic’s impact on “the gig economy, part time work, people being laid off and the decrease on hospitality and cleaning jobs, that had an affect on women who are right on that knife edge as well as trying to support families.”

She says of the government’s approach to economic stimulus: “It’s great that the emphasis is on jobs, but even when you look at the economic stimulus it’s jobs for men in construction and building and male-dominated industries,” and not the “care economy” like aged care and health care “which are traditionally 80 per cent women… and yet women’s salaries in those sectors has lagged behind.”

Ms Black says those industries need to be better recognised and supported: “It’s not as simple as ‘construction and mining creates jobs and everything else is a drain’… we’re working really hard in the sector to support what we call the care economy.”

As for domestic violence, Ms Black says it needs to become a topic of public conversation, “to call this out and understand it.

“Ten years ago we didn’t talk about suicide. If you did, it was a whisper.

“We need a similar kind of campaign of understanding as a society about domestic violence and perpetrators. As long as there’s still attitudes of ‘it’s just another domestic, I won’t interfere, it’s not my place, why doesn’t she leave,’ as long as those stereotypes are around we’re not going to break the back of this.”

by DAVID BELL

THE amount of cash Vincent council invests with the fossil fuel industry continues to climb despite promises to start dumping them five years ago.

In 2016 the council voted to “give preference” to environmentally responsible investments instead of forking out money to banks that prop up fossil fuels ‚Äì provided that didn’t cut into the returns. 

The decision came at the urging of climate change lobbyists 350Perth, the local branch of an international movement.

Vincent’s divestment policy saw 60 per cent of its funds going to non-fossil fuel lenders by the end of 2017, but that’s plunged to just 5 per cent today. 

At the November council meeting last year Cr Jonathan Hallett noticed the trend. “The proportion of investments exposed to fossil fuels seems to have increased slightly,” he said. “Do we know what the reasoning for that is?”

At the time council finance documents claimed 6.7 per cent of the council’s investments were in green-friendly banks, but the real number was even lower: Zero. 

The Voice discovered that for months the $2.6 million the council had invested with Macquarie was wrongly counted as being in an environmentally friendly fund, despite the bank lending $5 billion to the fossil fuel industry in the past five years.

Council CEO David MacLennan confirmed the Macquarie listing was in error and it’d be fixed for the coming council meeting.

The council’s reports now correctly state that 5 per cent of investments are in green banks, following a recent $2 million put into Members Equity. 

ME caps investments at $2 million, and as for why more can’t go into similar institutions, council staff wrote in this week’s agenda that coal-spurning banks “are not providing competitive rates”. 

But they’ve only been comparing rates from eight banks.

Cr Dan Loden said at this week’s council briefing: “There’s so much pressure on banks at the moment to address fossil fuel lending… there’s 11 banks in Australia that lend to fossil fuel organisations, and 61 that don’t, so it seems like there might be an opportunity there.”

Mayor Emma Cole said “this is an all time low, and requested of staff: “Can we do a much broader sweep of financial institutions to invest with?”

A MASKED-UP Vincent council electors’ AGM saw about 20 residents pass more than a dozen motions for council to consider.

Successful motions included:

• Residents around Vincent’s 10 Monmouth Street park, concerned about the council’s plan to sell it off, asked for the park to be restored to its former glory instead. The council consulted on it late last year but only put forward two options: Sell the park, or keep it as is. But residents say the block’s been allowed to deteriorate, with fallen trees not being replaced, and the seating having been removed years ago. The council put up a CCTV camera this summer to see how much it was being used, but residents said if the footage showed minimal use it was no wonder given the heat and lack of shade. They want a new consultation period with a third option: Re-beautify the park. “There is nowhere else for us to go, it is the only safe place we can get to without crossing main roads,” resident Lisa Coyle said. “To sell this land for two apartments is a nonsense.” The land was donated to the old Perth council in 1968 with a condition that it be used for recreation.

• Former councillor Dudley Maier’s motion that Vincent administration stop using the words “engaging” and “accountable” in their email signature blocks “until such time as they are”. He brought up several examples of shortcomings, from projects that weren’t properly advertised, councillors meeting in discussion “workshops” behind closed doors with no agenda published, and increasingly opaque budgets that didn’t include the previously detailed breakdowns by area. “I think things used to be a lot more transparent at Vincent, it used to be a lot more accountable,” he said.

• Town planner Paul Kotsoglo, tired of dealing with Vincent’s drawn out approvals process, moved that the council bring in independent experts to review its planning and development policies. He said the council needed to see if it was effective and review “the legitimacy and legality” of some of its rules, like the way money from percent-for-art projects is being spent on works outside the donor site.

•  A second motion from Mr Maier asked for a review of the councillors’ code of conduct, as the current version omits a former requirement that councillors respond to ratepayer correspondence. He said a few people have mentioned to him in the past couple of years that they weren’t getting responses from some councillors, and it turned out that requirement had been quietly removed with no advertising for public comment. “The manner in which it had been removed, I find totally unacceptable,” he said. 

Councillors will have to consider each of the motions atthe March council meeting.