Perth Voice Interactive

THE Leederville Hotel’s had its new major redevelopment approved. 

Owner FJM Property’s $3 million overhaul is planned to capitalise on the rear-neighbour office block being developed by their partner ABN Group. 

The heritage-listed hotel will be largely untouched but some of the outbuildings added later like the Blue Flamingo will be demolished. They’ll make way for a multi-venue setup and a new open area connecting with the laneway it shares with the office. 

The plan was approved by the state-controlled Development Assessment Panel, but Vincent council’s design review panel was glowing in its support, and there were no objections from the public.

The DAP said the plan “fits seamlessly” in Leederville, praised the retention of mature gum trees, and gave top marks to how it opens up onto the laneway. 

Pedestrians will be able to wander through from Newcastle Street to the laneway and on to Vincent Street any time one of the various Leedy hotel venues are open, starting with the first food kiosk at 7.30am.

Completion’s set for mid-2021. Because the building’s heritage listed, a dilapidation report will have to be done to make sure it doesn’t take a battering during construction. 

The ABN Group office is also scheduled to finish next year, and hit its “Topping Out” milestone in August by installing the uppermost internal structures. 

By DAVID BELL

MORE clubs and community groups have raised concerns they’ll struggle to survive under Vincent council’s draft policy on leasing its properties.

The draft “Property Framework Management” policy was intended to replace the existing hodgepodge of individual agreements, where some clubs pay nothing and others have sizeable rents.

Under the draft policy small sports clubs and community groups would pay 10 per cent of the regular rental rate as determined by the state valuer general, with further discounts based on factors like how much community benefit they have.

In May the Forrest Park Croquet Club raised concerns the new policy would leave it stuck with maintenance costs and building upgrades that could send it to the wall.

The public comment period’s now closed and other groups are likewise concerned.

Gary Fitzgerald from the North Perth Tennis Club told this week’s council briefing the club would struggle under the
proposed policy.

“This would provide great financial stress to the club,” he said.

NPTC’s rent would go from $949 a year to somewhere
between $2883 and $3845, depending on subsidies.

The expensive bore maintenance and replacement costs would default to the club’s responsibility unless the council deemed otherwise, and insurance costs including up to a $1000 excess per claim would be
shifted to the club.

Mr Fitzgerald said “the club would have to cover malicious damage and break-ins… the club has very little control over antisocial behaviour and damage to the premises”.

Leederville Tennis Club said it reckoned a fairer rate was 1 or 2 per cent of the regular rate.

It’s not just small clubs worried by the new policy. The draft proposes that state and national sports clubs would have their leases negotiated “based on current market evaluation”.

Volleyball WA, Swimming WA and Gymnastics WA have all raised concerns, as they’re a mixture of volunteers and paid staff, and not revenue-based
businesses.

Council staff said in a report to council the clubs have more access to other revenue like state funding, and rent negotiations would take into account a club’s financial status.

Councillors vote on the policy on September 15.

The current draft gives small clubs and groups a four-year transition period to switch over to the new rate, ramping up their rent 25 per cent a year. Mayor Emma Cole suggested clubs might need a longer transition.

By DAVID BELL

VINCENT council looks likely to stick to its ‘no billboards’ rule, with a seven-month battle over a giant screen soon to come to a head.

The proposed 82 square metre sign at the 12 Newcastle Street office building would likely have a far easier time getting approved if it was just across the street in the more sign-friendly City of Perth boundaries, where billboards have been approved in recent years on the basis they add vibrancy. But Vincent’s no billboards rule has been almost entirely unchanged for two decades, as the advertising is deemed to be “impinging on views and vistas, creating visual clutter, and detracting from the amenity of an area”.

Billboards can bring in thousands of dollars a week and advertisers have been trying to convince the council to change its policy for years. Even former neighbouring Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi once made the point that billboards are part of what makes a city, after Vincent council knocked back a sign on one of her properties. 

The council first refused a slightly bigger version of the Newcastle Street billboard in March, backed up by Main Roads which didn’t want a potential driver-distracter so close to the entrance to the Graham Farmer freeway tunnel. 

The building owner Dorado Property hired lawyers, town planners, a traffic consultant, a drone operator to take aerial photos to show the sign wouldn’t block views, and appealed to the State Administrative Tribunal. 

After SAT mediation, Vincent council staff still aren’t keen, advising councillors to stick to the rule when they vote at the next meeting.

Promote

Dorado’s representative, Adbrands Media manager Lou Di Florio, told this week’s Vincent briefing that council had discretion to approve it, and that in return they’d plant 10 street trees and offer Vincent one out of 10 ads in the rotating lineup to promote the council and community events. 

He pointed out “the digital screen is smaller than the size of signage on the neighbouring building [on the] opposite side of Newcastle Street,” which is over in Perth council’s domain.

There are a few billboards around Vincent, approved when the City of Perth was in charge of the area before Vincent existed.

Dorado bought the building in early February for $24 million, saying in a press statement at the time the asset was “well placed to benefit from the recovery in Perth’s office market”.

By DAVID BELL

A NORTHBRIDGE kebab shop owner was fined $18,000 after a customer spent two days in hospital with food poisoning.

Erdogan Topcu, who owns Prestige Kebab House on James Street, pleaded guilty in the Perth Magistrate’s Court on Friday to 11 charges laid by the City of Perth.

Magistrate Benjamin Tyers heard Mr Topcu’s meat shaver wasn’t clean, and the food he was selling wasn’t refrigerated at the correct temperature.

Mould

The court heard there was mould in fridge vents; uncovered food that did not have labels or dates; and a food display cabinet was unclean and flaking paint.

The council’s lawyer, Tim Houweling, said Mr Topcu had ignored improvement notices and, despite making some changes, it had not been enough to keep his food safe for consumption.

“The conduct here is pretty bad,” Mr Houweling said.

“It’s the worst you can get.”

One of the charges laid against Mr Topcu was knowingly selling food that was unsafe.

Mr Houweling said Prestige Kebabs was unclean and a breeding ground for E. coli.

“It does not cut the mustard,” Mr Houweling told magistrate Tyers.

The court heard Mr Topcu kept a tray of meat on a hot plate.

He served body temperature meat from the top of the tray, while the meat underneath was warmer.

Mr Houweling said the E. coli was doubling every two hours.

The court heard the poisoned customer went to hospital on September 1 last year.

Council inspectors went to the shop two days later.

A week further on they took samples from the meat shaver and issued an improvement notice.

When inspectors went to the kebab house on October 1 last year, they found not enough improvements had been made, and Mr Topcu had not started a regular cleaning schedule.

Mr Houweling said E. coli was extremely dangerous, and people had died after ingesting it.

Mr Tyers ordered Mr Topcu had to pay Perth’s $2500 costs.

He granted Mr Topcu a spent conviction, saying he was remorseful and had cooperated with authorities.

“I’m satisfied that you are of good character,” he said.

“I’m satisfied that you won’t do it again.

“(But) it will have to be a significant fine: my hands are tied.”

by Nicole Lyttle

KYILLA Primary School students and families are calling for a children’s crossing on Walcott Street, applying to WA Police to provide traffic wardens for school times.

The busy stretch of road splits two state electorates and students and parents have the backing of both Mt Lawley MP Simon Millman and Perth MP John Carey. 

Mr Millman says: “We call on WA Police to approve this much-needed crossing guard application, and we will continue to advocate for future, more permanent measures to improve safety along Walcott Street.”

Mr Carey says: “Kyilla Primary School parents have done a terrific job coordinating the school’s application for a much needed children’s crossing on Walcott Street.

“Dozens of students cross at this point each day on their way to and from school, and their safety is paramount.”

They’ve proposed it go in near the corner of Adair Parade.

It’s classed as a “type A” crossing because it’s used by at least 20 students and has 200 vehicles within the hour at school start and stop times, meaning the police would provide the warden rather than parents volunteering. 

Children’s crossing approvals are voted on by a committee made up of the WA Police, education department and Main Roads. 

They need consent from the council, and Vincent mayor Emma Cole’s behind them saying “this crossing is a crucial first step to improving safety along this busy stretch of road”.

The approvals process takes some time but it could be up in time for term four if they’re lucky. 

A NEW exhibition documents how Bayswater handled the coronavirus lockdown, with driveway dinners, physically distanced fishing down at the river, and bike rides 1.5m apart.

Photographer Nikki Mauri is organising The Baysie Iso Life with some seed funding from Bayswater council. She invited Bayswater people to put in submissions documenting their lockdown life including art, craft projects and photographs – and she urged them not to worry about their photography skills.

“I’ve been saying to people: It’s your life, it’s important to you and that’s what makes it good enough. I don’t care about the quality of the image or how it was taken, I just want an insight into your life.”

With about 100 entries already in, Ms Mauri says Bayswater folk seemed to embrace their stretch of nature during lockdown. “I’ve got people hiking, fishing, walking down by the river.”

In the midst of feeling isolated, Ms Mauri herself found some community connection in driveway dinners. 

She encouraged her neighbours to haul out a table and chairs, sharing a distant dinner and even organising for musicians to come along and entertain. She says it brought the neighbourhood together more than ever before, and some of those evenings are documented in the exhibition.

The Baysie Iso Life is on at the Bayswater Bowling and Recreation Club; the launch is Friday September 25 at 6pm, then the exhibition runs September 26 noon to 6pm, and September 27 2pm to 6pm. 

THE City of Perth’s tarnished voter roll from the 2017 election has been purged and any renter, business nominee or non-resident owner who applied to join since will be audited.

The Voice has been onto the council about the integrity of the roll for a couple of months, as the eligibility of many voters has been called into question by the City of Perth inquiry hearings and now the final report. 

The report did not guess at how many total voters might’ve been ineligible, but it said one candidate alone, Keith Yong, had tried to get at least 45 votes registered ahead of the 2017 election. Those 45 were noticed before the election, but the report said the practice likely wasn’t isolated. 

City-based businesses are allowed to put forward two nominees to vote but the report said it was “common” for candidates to get business nominees signed up with no actual connection to the company, and sometimes the businesses had no clue they’d been enrolled. The inquiry found other examples of voters signing up under sham leases.

Former councillor Reece Harley said in July there were more “anomalies” on the 2017 roll and called for it to be audited, forwarding examples of strange entries to the City. Some of those oddities included far more votes being registered to a single business’s address than the two normally allowed.

In response to our queries this week the City of Perth’s confirmed the 2017 owners and occupiers roll will not be used. 

Normally non-resident voters fall off the roll after two elections. Even though there was no election in 2019 due to the council being suspended, a clause in the Local Government Act still counts that as an election for voter expiry. “As such, all occupiers that were on the owners and occupiers roll previous to the inquiry have now been automatically removed.” 

The response also stated “The City of Perth has conducted an audit of the owners and occupiers roll for all those who have joined from September 2017 onward. This audit incorporates reviewing lease agreements”. 

We’ve asked how many have been knocked off the list as a result of the audit but the City didn’t have the final tally yet. The CEO has until Friday September 11 to certify the owners and occupiers roll.

Two knocked back Candidates have also been more thoroughly scrutinised this time round. 

Those nominating as renters are being asked to provide evidence they are the actual named leaseholder and not just a business’s nominee. Corporate body nominees are eligible to vote, but not to stand. They’re also being asked for proof they have at least three months’ right of continuous occupation. 

Two candidates, the Mustang Bar’s Mike Keiller and cross-cultural business adviser Gloria Zhang, have not had their nominations accepted, and both are appealing the decision. 

By DAVID BELL

THE McGowan government needs to follow South Australia and Queensland’s lead and urgently extend plastic bans to cover a wider range of the junk that ends up polluting our oceans, says a coalition of conservation groups.

The groups, which are organising a beach clean-up and movie screenings for Sustainable September, have written to WA environment minister Stephen Dawson asking him to look into the eastern staters’ bans and adopt them here.

Stirrers

South Australia introduced legislation in May this year, which immediately bans plastic straws, cutlery and stirrers, while phasing out polystyrene cups and food containers and products made of oxo-degradable plastics (bags the degrade rather than compost) after 12 months. The legislation flags further restrictions on all disposable coffee cups, thick plastic bags and more takeaway food containers after additional consultation.

Paddy Cullen, who’s organising the Sustainable September activities for the Perth Climate Action Team, Doctors for the Environment Australia, Australian Religious Response to Climate Change and WA Seabird Rescue, said while the McGowan government’s container deposit scheme was a welcome tool to combat litter, it had take 15 years to implement.

“We can’t wait that long; we have to move faster,” Mr Cullen said.

He says the government has to work to drastically curb “virgin plastics” which are manufactured directly from the by-products of fossil fuels and contain no recycled material, and develop a “circular economy” such as the European Commission’s, which heavily promotes the re-use and ultimate recycling of plastic materials and makes the manufacturers responsible for the product from its production to its demise.

Mr Cullen said they’d be inviting the minister to a clean-up at Bather’s Beach in Fremantle on October 3 from 10am, and the movie screening of Albatross in Maylands on September 17 at the Uniting Church hall on Railway Parade from 6.30pm to impress on him the scale of plastic pollution and its impact on Australia’s marine environment.

A cursory Google search reveals that 8 million bits of plastic enter the ocean every minute, and that there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050. 

These facts are existentially terrifying – but also inspire a kind of apathy. If the problem is so immense, what difference does one more Coke bottle lid or take-away coffee cup make? 

If this type of indifference feels familiar: go and watch Albatross. 

It documents the life of an albatross colony on Midway Island in the North Pacific, more than 2500km from the nearest continent. This isolation is no protection from the outside world. 

The tragic cost of pollution is made jarringly clear by shots of albatross hatchlings choking on rubbish, and of dead fledglings with debris-filled stomachs. 

Mr Cullen hopes the movie will help recruit more anti-plastic crusaders and put a fire under the minister’s enthusiasm for protecting the environment.

“I could throw fact sheets and statistics at you and you might think briefly about the problem. But Albatross pulls at the heartstrings, it’s incredibly touching, and it will get people involved.”

As part of the Bathers Beach clean up , Mr Cullen’s team have used pieces of recycled plastic to make a giant pair of albatross wings and a transparent ’stomach’ that helpers can fill with litter. 

Albatross is a terrifying movie. But it’s also an antidote to defeatism; if every piece of plastic that goes into the ocean matters, every piece that comes out does, too, Mr Cullen says.

On hold

Mr Dawson told the Voice any further inroads into reducing single-use plastics had been put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic but an announcement might come later in the year.

“Western Australia’s container deposit scheme, Containers for Change, will also increase recycling of beverage containers and reduce litter.

“Further action on single-use plastics is being informed by the almost 9500 submissions received as part of the release of the Let’s Not Draw the Short Straw issues paper last year,” Mr Dawson said.

“The WA community supports reducing single-use plastics, with more than 98 per cent of submissions to the issues paper supporting further action.”

by LOTTIE ELTON and STEVE GRANT