Perth Voice Interactive

A “VERY disappointing” Health Department response over a coronavirus case at the Terry Tyzack Aquatic Centre in March hasn’t convinced Stirling council to take responsibility for notifying patrons if another case is discovered.

Internal emails obtained through a Freedom of Information request show Stirling staff butted up against non-answers from the department’s Communicable Disease Control Unit and waited 10 days for a response about contact tracing after a gym user was diagnosed with Covid-19. 

The council immediately closed the centre after being notified of the positive test and briefed “staff and any concerned members of the public” who were there, according to the emails.

Centre members were sent email messages the following day telling them the centre was closed, but not why. Only those visiting the council website and navigating into a drop-down menu would find out about the coronavirus case.

The council had received advice from the department that the exposure risk was “low” but wanted to know if the CDCU was contacting people, and emails and telephone calls were sent throughout the week.

The CDCU’s one-line response came on April 1 and didn’t even answer the question.

“The public health issues have been managed and as the centre is now closed, there is nothing further that needs to be done,” the email read. “Cheers.”

Protocol

An internal email from Stirling’s planning and development director Stevan Rodic shows he forwarded the response to council colleagues saying “not much in it, very disappointing”. He had urged the CDC to respond after Tyzack Centre users contacted the council for information. 

Not even a prompting from department colleagues to respond “ASAP” helped.

The TTAC reopened this week, but the city isn’t going to take notifications into its own hands; community development director Michael Quirk said that’s up to the department.

“The city has a clear protocol to immediately report any cases to the Department of Health‚Äôs Communicable Disease Control Unit and then follow their direction and advice,” Ms Quirk said.

“Regardless, the city will ensure that all notification responsibilities are clearly understood between the city and the Department of Health in future.

“It is also important to note that the Department did not consider any users of Terry Tyzack Aquatic Centre as a close contact of the person in question; therefore there was no official requirement to notify other users of the facility. A list of all recorded users was provided by the city to the Department of Health with the expectation that these people would be contacted by the department if they deemed appropriate as the responsible agency.”

By DAVID BELL

THE fate of the 2021 Skyworks remains up in the air, with City of Perth commissioners to make a decision at the end of June.

They were scheduled to decide whether to go ahead with the Skyworks at the May 26 meeting as this is usually the time of year when they lock in the contract to buy the 40,000-odd fireworks needed. 

But tucked away on page 269 of a 288 page Covid-19 recovery strategy presented to commissioners for approval, city staff recommended that $1.9 million from the Skyworks budget be reallocated for homeless support.

It was based on a survey sent out to 250 “key stakeholders” from the tourism, hotels, property, arts, culture, retail, hospitality and community sector. 

Of those, 74 replied, and only 34 plumped for Skyworks. Meanwhile 70/74 wanted more done on homelessness. 

There was no other reason given until the city issued a media statement saying the recommendation was based on “uncertainties related to mass gatherings and the possibility for second-wave infections to occur into late 2020”.

The statement said it usually took 10 months to plan the Skyworks and it would be a big financial risk to plough ahead ahead only to have it cancelled. 

Premier Mark McGowan said on Monday it was “premature” to decide the fate of the Skyworks and Perth MP John Carey said it was “a slightly overcautious approach; we don’t know what’s going to occur”.

Chair commissioner Andrew Hammond told the May 19 council briefing that commissioners would need more time and a lot more information before making a decision about the Skyworks and two other mass gathering events, the Christmas nativity and New Year’s Eve celebrations. Before the June 30 meeting he requested information on lead-up times, the cost of cancelling, the economic benefits, advice from the chief medical officers and whether smaller events would be safer.

“The contents of the report and strategy is extremely good work in the circumstances and with the pressures placed on staff,” Cmmr Hammond said.

“However the three items that are contained in the report, being the Australia Day Skyshow, the Christmas nativity and the New Year’s Eve events, are events that have taken place for many years and therefore require, in my view, a greater depth of analysis and consideration than would be afforded other matters in the strategy.”

Mr Carey also noted traders who’d suffered during the shutdown didn’t usually see a huge return from the Skyworks.

“When you do speak to small businesses in the city, they don’t get the economic stimulus or benefit.

“It’s great for WA, but for the businesses in the heart of the city, they don’t see people coming through. People go to the river, they bring their own food, they sit down and as soon as it’s over they nick off.”

By DAVID BELL

THE East Perth Cemeteries have been given a permanent entry into the state heritage register. 

It sets in stone a process started back in 1992 when the cemeteries were given an “interim entry” on the register after former Liberal MP Phil Pendal raised concerns gravestones were being vandalised and ghouls were interfering with remains in some of the crypts.

Some places sit on the interim list for a few months or a few years, but 29 years later the cemetery still didn’t have a permanent entry. 

The “interim” category no longer exists in WA’s new Heritage Act 2018 and for the past year the Heritage Council of WA has been working through a backlog to tidy up the books.

Announcing the permanent entry, heritage minister David Templeman said “as we continue to forge our modern identity into the 21st century, it is more important than ever to recognise important places and times from our state’s history that we can learn from and appreciate on an aesthetic level.

“East Perth Cemeteries offer a window into our state’s colonial past and development into the late 19th century, with each headstone telling its own story and feeding into the collective story.”

The cemeteries at 2 Bronte Street were used from the 1830s. About 10,000 people were buried there including the only colonial governor buried in WA, Andrew Clarke (the rest went back to England). 

In 1899 it was designated a “disused burial ground” with burials to cease by 1916, but a few were still permitted through to 1924. 

There were once gravestones nearby where the Perth Girls School now sits, but it was decommissioned  in the 1880s and built over. Resuming bodies from remaining unmarked graves started earlier this year and they’ll find a new resting ground at Karrakatta. 

Confusion between the two sites had fuelled the fears of redevelopment and Perth state MP John Carey welcomed the clarity.

“There have been concerns which are unfounded, but I get it – a fear of part of the site being redeveloped. But that was never the case, and this heritage protection clearly locks it away.”

Mr Carey says he sometimes hears suggestions from people saying “why don’t you beautify the land, put in landscaping and put in rose bushes. But we want it to be retained the way it was in colonial times. 

“The idea of beautifying it would not be an actual historical reflection.”

By DAVID BELL

THE Forrest Park Croquet Club says its future is in jeopardy under a proposed lease policy being considered by Vincent council.

The draft policy replaces individual agreements and will see small sporting clubs pay for minor maintenance and capital upgrades. 

The council would pay for main structure maintenance and “capital renewal”. It says the aim of the plan isn’t to stick clubs with bigger bills but a lack of definition has led to concern over who pays for what.

Croquet club president John Gartner says “if this goes through, the likelihood is we will fold. Not tomorrow, but somewhere down the track”. 

Mr Gartner says different clubs are in different positions; some have new facilities needing little maintenance, and some clubs only pay for their building and not the grass they play on.

“Forrest Park Croquet Club invests about $25,000 per annum in maintaining the grounds, which not only enhances the local amenity of the area, but helps ensure the facility is available to host community group activities, parties and celebrations for local residents,” Mr Gartner says.

“We, like many clubs, make significant contributions to the city. We maintain our own lawns, paid for by membership fees. Therefore we directly contribute through our passion for croquet by providing community connections and contributing to a thriving community for the benefit of the city ratepayers.” 

The croquet club building is 1950s era and is in need of a few upgrades, including new toilets to meet accessibility standards. The club had hoped for the council to pick up the tab, but Mr Gartner says by his reading, it’s now up to the club.

Vincent mayor Emma Cole says given Mr Gartner’s concerns, it looked like the policy needed more clarity.

“The city is responsible for structural changes, so if there’s an upgrade to a toilet block to make it universally accessible, that would be at the cost to the city.”

The policy also sees an end to peppercorn leases, and clubs will instead pay between 5 to 10 per cent of the market rental rate. 

The FPCC says it can absorb the rent increase from $1,121 to an estimated $5,600; it’s the maintenance costs that are the bigger concern.

The policy is out for comment until May 29 at imagine.vincent. wa.gov.au/policy-updates

By DAVID BELL