BUILT in 1940 this Leederville home has all the bells and whistles of the period.
Modest-looking from the outside, inside it boasts decorative ceilings and arches, jarrah floors, jarrah framed-double sash windows, and a fire place or two.
The huge kitchen still has its original metters wood stove – a rare blue enamel model with a white oven door.
The original front verandah has been replaced with new jarrah, creating a pleasant spot to watch passersby on Oxford Street.
Over the years the kitchen has been modernised with white cupboards and a huge pull-out pantry, and the bathroom has almost floor-to-ceiling white tiles and an attractive red-waratah floral dado. The original sleep-out, with louvre windows, is now the dining room, with a study next door.
New owners will no doubt want to extend, and with 468sqm there’s plenty of scope for a spacious open-plan off the kitchen.
The gardens, front and back, resemble the Gobi Desert.
The backyard has a couple of pink flowering oleanders and some sad citrus trees, but the rest is dust.
On the plus side, new owners will have a blank canvas to create a green oasis and maybe put in a pool.
Situated on Oxford Street, the property is zoned mixed-residential, so you could turn the bedrooms into offices.
There’s a couple of cafes almost next door, and the heart of Leederville is a seven-minute walk away.
A RESTAURATEUR hospitalised after an electric shock at his Walter Road business says the incident has ruined his life and should never have happened.
Ibiza N2 owner Ahmed El Rakaawi Tolba says for five months he repeatedly warned his property manager via texts, emails and phone calls about a burning smell and smoke coming from a faulty switchboard in the restaurant’s storeroom, but it was never fixed.
During a busy trading night on April 7 last year, the switchboard arced up again and Mr El Rawaaki Tolba ran to switch it off, fearing flames he could see would spread.
• Ibiza N2 owner Ahmed El Rakaawi Tolba and his restaurant manager Nadja Flaming.
Collapsed
He suffered an electric shock, collapsed, and was taken by ambulance to RPH where he was diagnosed with electrocution.
Lawyers for building owner Keltwood Pty Ltd said it was Mr El Rakaawi Tolba’s responsibility to “repair and maintain the property” including the electrics, but an electrical contractor had been “promptly” engaged to investigate his complaints.
Following that February 2 visit from the contractor, Mr El Rakaawi Tolba repeatedly asked for updates, believing he needed the owner’s permission before commissioning any repairs or replacements himself.
He had previously asked the WA Small Business Development Corporation to mediate, but the property managers Raine & Horne Wembley declined, sending instead an update on February 19 that “a report on the condition is being compiled and once received this will be discussed with the building owners”.
But by April Mr El Rekaawi Tolba still hadn’t got an update; he says the injuries he received in the electrocution still affect him, and the near-death experience has affected his mental health.
He had hoped to reopen the restaurant, but there were more delays getting the switchboard fixed.
Mr El Rakaawi Tolba says his experience appeared to have exposed a gap in WA’s electrical safety regulations.
“Western Power didn’t seem [to have] any procedure for near misses,” he said.
“The story would have been different if there was a fatality.”
The building owner was given an order by a state electrical inspector to replace and relocate the switchboard by April 29, but an extension was granted and the work was completed four months later.
Vandals
But Mr El Rakaawi Tolba says by then the vacant shop had been targeted by vandals and was unfit to reopen.
Without electricity for the alarm, thieves even stole a dormant security camera.
“I would not serve food in there,” Mr El Rakaawi Tolba says of the state of the place.
He refused to pay rent, and was locked out of the property for non-payment in October.
Apart from the restaurant Mr El Rakaawi Tolba owns the Easy Dentures clinic in Mount Hawthorn, but he says his damaged hand is no longer up to the fine detailed work required to craft dentures.
He is pursuing compensation, a figure his insurer’s forensic accountant puts at $365,000 and growing for each month of lost business.
But it’s been a drawn-out process and Mr El Rakaawi Tolba is already racking up legal fees navigating the insurance process and fears it’ll only get worse if it ends up in court.
In December Ibiza N2’s shop manager Nadja Flaming started a crowdfunding campaign to help with the mounting bills but Mr El Rakaawi Tolba played it down because of the bushfire crisis in the eastern states.
“I couldn’t ask people for money, with the fires,” he said.
Raine & Horne Wembley director Terry Menage says the company disagrees with Mr El Rakaawi Tolba’s version of events and will be jointly defending his claim with the owner, but can’t comment further while the matter’s pending.
VOICE readers sent in these images of destruction from across the suburbs after Tuesday’s flash storm.
James Kozak was down at Maylands Peninsula the morning after and relates “an endless number of trees lost major branches, and a smaller number of trees were upended”. The Bath Street reserve toilets were damaged and the Maylands Tennis Club had a major tree come down on its roof.
•Photo by James Kozak
June Winsome Smith caught images of truly venerable trees struck low by the storm, flattening fences and obstructing bike paths across the peninsula.
•Photo by June Winsome Smith
Another reader walking their poodle at Charles Veryard Reserve described the North Perth park as “trashed from that storm; lots of trees down, powerlines down, and a car crushed,” with emergency services quick to the scene.
•Photo by our poodle-walker
At the corner of Loftus Street and the Mitchell Freeway, it was luck alone (and maybe wind direction) that saw a towering gum fall onto the verge instead of into peak hour traffic.
ONE floor of Council House in Perth is to be rented out under a money-saving measure from chair commissioner Andrew Hammond.
Staff and councillors are currently spread across levels 9, 10 and 11 of the modernist building, but Cmmr Hammond has noticed the halls are looking a little roomier under new CEO Murray Jorgensen’s program of reining in staff numbers, which had ballooned out past 700 under the old regime.
In 2018 commissioners shut down the level 10 dining room which cost about $500,000 to run each year, leaving that opulent and imperial chamber defunct along with the bar and commercial kitchen.
Level 10 also has nine empty regular offices and one large empty one, and he notes that the level 11 lord mayoral office is “very large,” and councillors also have work space up there. The floor had originally been for equipment to run the building, but was converted into the lord mayor’s “space and meeting room” during major renovations completed in 1999.
Cmmr Hammond reckons “consolidated accommodation” could free up a whole floor to rent out.
The review of surplus space is planned to be complete in time for the 2020/2021 budget so the council can put money aside for works needed to get the spare room ready for rent.
AN eminent figure in Australian politics has thrown his support behind WA’s Rotary clubs, with WA governor Kim Beazley the new patron of District 9455.
Mr Beazley was a former deputy prime minister, Australian ambassador to the US, and held numerous portfolios as a federal minister, most notably defence where he earned the sobriquet “Bomber Beazley”.
District 9455 covers 48 clubs including Northbridge, West Perth and Mount Lawley.
On February 20 Mr Beazley gave a speech to members from the clubs about the increasing importance of volunteering.
• Indigenous leader Walter McGuire, Rotary District 9455 governor Elect Jon Bilson, district 9455 governor Graham Peden, WA Governor Kim Beazley, and Perth Rotary president Vangelis Katsaitis.
Mr Beazley said economic indicators suggested western countries might soon struggle to provide the same level of support to their citizens without help from volunteers.
Perth Rotary president Vangelis Katsaitis said having the governor as patron was a strong motivator for their work.
“The amazing work Rotary does for those communities in need – here and abroad – is mind blowing,” he said.
“From helping victims of domestic violence to building houses for homeless families in Cambodia and providing shelter for Perth’s street kids are just some of the initiatives Rotary undertakes.”
Mr Katsaitas said his had benefited from having former WA Governor Ken Michael as a member.
“Having access to his wise counsel, his enthusiastic support and his amazing network of community leaders has been invaluable.
“With governor Beazley now putting his shoulder to the Rotary wheel we feel even more can be accomplished.”
FEMALE footy players will get their own change rooms for the first time at Leederville Oval for the February 29 AFLW match between the Eagles and the Western Bulldogs.
For decades a lack of suitable change room and toilet facilities at traditionally “male” sports venues has been one of the sticking points hindering the uptake of women in sports.
But Vincent council has just finished a $140,000 upgrade at Leederville Oval for new shower cubicles and toilets to accommodate female teams, with Subiaco and East Perth football clubs each kicking in $10,000.
Gone are the days when footy was considered a men’s game and the change rooms only had to cater for males,” Vincent mayor Emma Cole says.
• Footballers Katherine Orme and McKenzie Dowrick with Vincent mayor Emma Cole.
“Women’s sport is booming and we are excited to be doing what we can to encourage girls and women to get involved.
“One way of doing this is to make sure change rooms are comfortable and appropriate for females.”
The city also waived the $8000 oval hire fee for the free February 29 match.
Female-friendly change room upgrades are also underway at Charles Veryard Reserve and Loftus Recreation Centre, fuelled by a $234,000 Sport Australia grant.
The pro-sportswomen changes came about after a 2018 motion from deputy mayor Susan Gontaszewski who noted that many of the publicly owned sports facilities were mostly dominated by men. The city has started giving out grants to teams looking to expand female participation, with Mount Hawthorn Cardinals Junior footy club and North Perth Dynamites Netball Club both getting a $2000 boon last week.
ONCE a cute entry statement to the Progress Street Precinct in Morley, a collection of seal statues now deemed an eyesore and a magnet for street drinkers are to be removed.
Bayswater council commissioned the sculptures in 1997 from artist Vittorio Ulinovich, at a cost of $50,000. There’s one large fountain at the Progress Street roundabout with eight seals and three other little seals in nearby streets.
The seals represent the “continuation of life from one generation to the next, with each seal representing a member in the family unit” according to a council report.
But the concrete has deteriorated over the decades and the sculptures are now “beyond possible remediation” the report says, condemning them as an “eyesore to local community and a significant negative impact to the streetscape and local business”.
The fountain stopped working beyond repair in early 2018 and the stagnant water is now full of beer cans and bugs.
• The seals are cute but decrepit. Photo by Chris Cornish
The report says police and the council’s rangers have noticed the siren call of the seal-ridden roundabout is too alluring to troublemakers and “attracts regular antisocial behaviour and street drinking”.
At the February 25 meeting Bayswater councillors endorsed a plan to remove the seal fountain and landscape the spot at a cost of $100,000.
Works start early next year. The council had considered leaving the seals until Galleria shopping centre’s planned redevelopment, but that’s now been put on hold “until further notice” and is at least two years away.
Mr Ulinovich died in March 2019. His other local works include the Pan statue at the Fremantle Italian Club, the Pacing Horses sculpture at the Trotting Club in East Fremantle, and the Rockingham dolphins.
The council will notify his family and “acknowledge the contribution of the artwork”.
BUSKING in Perth’s CBD is now free, but it’ll remain restricted to decent acts (“Perth looking to axe busking fee,” Voice, February 22, 2020).
Perth council ran a trial last year of more rigid busking rules to reduce the number of complaints about crap singers and loud amps.
Along with setting out demarcated areas, set times and requiring an audition video, the council also dropped the annual fee. About 80 per cent of applicants were good enough to get a permit. The number of buskers applying went up 800 per cent, and complaints halved.
• Yuzuke Hasegawa busked around Australia in 2010. He couldn’t lug a drumkit around so he played on anything nearby. He’d have an easier time now there’s no fee in Perth.
But during the trial buskers still wanted lower fees. At the February 25 Perth council meeting commissioners endorsed a new zero dollar application fee from buskers, though the audition remains.
Former councillor Reece Harley had proposed the cheaper permit trial back in 2018, saying buskers had been coming to him complaining about the steep cost compared to other cities.
He said it was good news to see it lowered to zero this week; “I’m overjoyed for our city and for all of the wonderful buskers who I know will be so thankful for this support,” he said.
A NEW precinct and a new town team to go along with it could spring out of a March 7 workshop in the terraces district of East Perth.
Perth state Labor MP John Carey is holding the meeting to gauge interest in a potential new town team similar to those operating in Northbridge, West Perth and East Perth. It would be made up of locals and businesses who can hold events and put ideas to council and government.
Mr Carey says he’s been approached by businesses and residents in the area surrounding Adelaide Terrace and Terrace Road, and along Langley Park, who want their own town team.
It’s an area with a lot of hotels and apartments, but Mr Carey says it’s a myth that apartment dwellers are detached from their neighbourhood: “People living in apartment buildings still want that sense of community.”
He says they’ll be gauging whether the area is a viable precinct and what it should look like.
“What are the things we love about the terrace precinct? How can we drive more activity, life and vibrancy in that precinct,” Mr Carey said.
The workshop’s at Hotel Ibis, 10am, March 7, rsvp to john.carey@mp.wa.gov.au
Royal wave
I WANT to thank Optus Stadium and its staff for their help on Sunday evening. My father required assistance getting to his seat on Sunday evening to watch Queen.
The staff in yellow outdid themselves. Not only did they find a wheelchair and wheel him to his seats, they even made sure there was a wheelchair waiting at the end of the night. I’m so impressed with the service you gave us. Megan Mawdsley Medina
A lot of hot air
REGARDING the article “Call for climate emergency vote” (Voice, February 22, 2020).
I sincerely hope that Stirling mayor Mark Irwin asks the organiser(s) of the climate emergency petition to provide some evidence and/or explanation of: • The 150 million people that will die prematurely before the end of the century;
• The 100-200 species that have gone extinct in the one day period, presumably at the time of writing of said petition or perhaps at the time of reading; and, • The horrible and disastrous effects the climate crisis will have on human rights.
Point one seems an arbitrary number that could be apportioned to a number of factors over the next 80 years, so it simply doesn’t make sense. Even though it sounds good, it’s a logical fallacy.
Point two would be easy enough to prove, providing it is true. My obvious questions to the petitioner would be, When was this petition written? Are we to aggregate the 100-200 species from the date of writing/reading of the petition, then we can establish a relevant number as a starting point to establish some facts?
Point three seems a preposterous notion that nature has a virtuous indignation against the human rights of humanity. Unless of course we adopt the bizarre self-nihilistic philosophy of Aurelio Peccei: “The common enemy of humanity is man, in searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill…the real enemy then is humanity itself.”
It would appear that Mr Irwin has shown some integrity on this matter, that he has in fact a code of honour in standing up to the bullying tactics of a select few that would affect the human rights and lives of many. Good on you, Mark. Gene Lorenzo Mt Hawthorn
Council misfire on shutters
I READ the Voice article about how Vincent council is asking Mr Yozzi to remove security shutters because he had not obtained approval and that planning rules ban roller shutters to avoid a fortress-like feel (“Dealer caught in the crossfire”, February 15, 2020). City planning can be a complicated business and should include considerations that directly impact on the amenity of users and promote a harmonious welcoming environment:
The location of the store is on a low pedestrian traffic area.
The shutters will be up in the day and down at night.
Pedestrians don’t care about shutters.
The shutters don’t impact on the amenity of users.
Vincent is being totally unreasonable.
Shutters are a cost effective means of achieving the necessary level of security. John Rossi Mount Lawley
Voice caned
PLEASE note that the school pictured on the front page of last week’s Voice is in East Perth, not East Fremantle. I do remember this, as I was a pupil there for three years. I do wish it could return as a girls school with the high standards of teaching and behaviour. Thank you for your coverage of local news. Elizabeth Shurmer Perth
Perth Voice Interactive 