Perth Voice Interactive

THIS Bayswater home has bags of character.

From the white picket fence and sash windows to the vintage fireplace and ornate cornicing, there’s plenty to admire.

The lounge is particularly inviting – light floods through the period windows accentuating the jarrah floorboards and charming fireplace.

Completing the pretty picture is a classy chandelier and high ceilings, enhancing the sense of space.

This three bedroom one bathroom home showcases natural wood in all its glory – there’s gorgeous window frames, polished jarrah floorboards and a cute flight of stairs leading to the attic conversion.

Up there you’ll find a carpeted bedroom with exposed beams and plenty of natural light, courtesy of the many windows.

There’s even some French doors leading to a balcony, where you can enjoy views of the leafy suburb.

Back downstairs you’ll find a stylish dining room, tucked around the corner from a galley kitchen.

The kitchen has some nice benchtops and a double sink, but you might want to upgrade the cabinets further down the line or you could leave them and enjoy the quaint charm.

The cute bathroom is neat and functional, and features tiles with a butterfly motif.

Out the back there’s a nice patio with space for a dining setting, BBQ and pizza oven.

With a Colorbond fence and petite garden beds, it’s pretty and low maintenance, so there’s not much gardening to worry about.

There’s another alfresco out the front, where you can sit beneath the verandah with a coffee and watch life go by.

This freshly-painted home includes a separate study, king-sized main bedroom with ceiling fan, formal dining room with built-in breakfast bar, garden shed and double carport.

Situated on a spacious 350sqm block at one of Bayswater’s most desirable addresses – Crowther Street – this abode is moments from Bayswater and St Columba’s Primary Schools, and close to all the cafes, bars and restaurants in the town centre, including King Somm wine bar.

From high $700,000s
6 Crowther Street, Bayswater
Beaucott Property
9272 2488
Agent Carlos Lehn
0478 927 017

MT HAWTHORN’S new Skate Space has opened, with a focus on beginner skaters.

The 350-square metre space is located at Britannia Reserve, next to the basketball ring and the Litis Stadium upper carpark. 

North Perth-based Skate Sculpture used community ideas to design and construct the space, with entry-level elements ideal for building skills but still as fun as possible.

It features quarter pipes, banks, rails, ledges, tabletop and a mini ramp, perfect for practicing ollies, kickflips and grinds. 

All elements are less than a metre high, making them safe for young kids either learning how to skate or fine tuning their skills. 

Transition

The space also includes some design elements that will keep more experienced and technical skaters interested.

Young skaters tested out the street and transition elements at a free opening event last week.

The space has picnic tables and shade so mums and dads can sit and watch or grab the kids for a picnic break.

More than half of the funding came from the Department of Communities as part of an election commitment from Perth Labor MLA John Carey.

Vincent mayor Alison Xamon said the community had been calling for a small skate space for younger skaters for several years.

“We are very proud to bring this dream to life through this new facility,” Ms Xamon said.

“With a range of street and transition elements, it is the perfect training ground for children to learn how to skate and master their skills.

“Properties in the inner-city area often have less yard space, so it is important for us to invest in quality active spaces for those residents to access and with Australia’s recent phenomenal skateboarding success at the Paris Olympics, I know there is an increasing interest in taking up the sport.”

Mr Carey said the $200,000 election commitment came in response to the huge number of young families in Vincent.

“Designed in consultation with local families and members of the skating community, the Mt Hawthorn Skate Space will be perfect for kids, young people and inexperienced skaters,” Mr Carey said.

“The skate space has been designed for entry level skaters to develop and hone their skills and provides an alternative to the Leederville Skate Park which is generally used by young adults.”

BAYSWATER and STIRLING will be in for new water pipes, under a $40m Cook government plan to fix leaks on Perth’s old network.

About 30 kilometres of piping will be renewed under the program starting later this year, with each stage taking about six to eight weeks to try and minimise disruptions.

Some of the oldest sections of piping are more than 70 years old.

Construction will be mostly within verges along residential roads, with the work being undertaken by Hascon Civil and Aboriginal-owned Penang.

Water minister Simone McGurk said reliability was a key.

“Nobody wants the inconvenience of a burst pipe affecting their water supply, so this $40m investment – funded under the state Budget – is part of a long-term program to enhance the reliability of Perth’s water network and save valuable water.

“The two-year program of staged upgrades, across five local government areas, have been carefully planned to minimise the impact to local residents with smaller sections and quicker timeframes.”

FIFTY of the brightest minds in the world will be converging on Perth next month as the brainiacs from Mensa hold their meeting of international directors.

It will be the first time Australia has been chosen to host a Mensa meeting.

Australian Mensa chair Jean-Marc Genesi will be traveling from Melbourne to attend as Australia’s representative, along with chairs from around the globe.

“I am looking forward to meeting fellow Mensa CEOs on home soil,” Mr Genesi said.

“Preparations are well underway and we hope to make this the best IBD meeting ever.”

On the agenda will be issues unique to Mensa such as online testing, membership issues, new and emerging Mensas, trademarks and growth. 

International IT systems are always under discussion, while ways of retaining the volunteers who keep Mensa running will also be on the agenda.

The official meeting will last from October 10-13, but there’s a formal gala dinner, cocktail icebreaker and a trip to Rottnest Island to give delegates time to chill out.

Mensa is the best known high IQ society in the world with over 150,000 members in more than 90 countries. 

Australian Mensa has nearly 3000 members, with the main growth area children. 

Around 47 per cent of members aged under eighteen. 

Mensa began in 1946 when an Australian and an Englishman met on a train and the seed was sown for the idea of a high IQ organisation. 

The only criteria for membership is to score in the top 2 per cent on a standardised IQ test.

THE City of Stirling has upgraded floodlighting at Millington Reserve, enhancing facilities for junior and senior AFL clubs. 

The new lighting meets Australian Standards, improving training and evening matches to support the rise in local sports participation.

With increasing female involvement, particularly at Scarborough Junior and Amateur Football Clubs, the lighting expands opportunities for women’s games. 

Scarborough Junior Football Club president Ben Boyce highlighted how the lights allow female fixtures to be held at home, instead of at other venues.

The $300,000 project, funded by the City and the Cook government, features energy-efficient LED lights, doubling the brightness compared to previous installations. 

The upgrades improve energy efficiency while offering more flexibility for community use outside sporting hours.
Scarborough Amateur Football Club president Joel Ashman said the upgrades allowed up to five teams to play in one day, fostering closer connections within the club. 

The lights also enhanced visibility for all teams, ensuring everyone feels appreciated.

Stirling mayor Mark Irwin said the improvements support the growth of local athletes, particularly with the rise of female sports teams.

SPRING has sprung in WA and while bees are busy making honey for WA’s booming export market, a report by Curtin University researchers has found they’re under-pollinating an endangered orchid.

Apis Mellifera were introduced during colonisation and the research has found they’re not as efficient as their native cousins in pollination. 

Study lead and research associate Daniella Scaccabarozzi said “with the introduced bees, we saw pollen removal but not good pollination efficiency… taking pollen, which was meant for native bees, and leading to wastage. 

“Therefore, orchids and other flora are not being able to reproduce.” 

WA’s native honeybees have the most effective pollination efficiency. 

Dr Scaccabarozzi said a healthy environment was also vital for pollination.

“Maintaining the habitat and keeping it connected is very important,” she said.

“This issue of pollination deficit is more severe when the habitat was fragmented by infrastructure and roads, leading to native bees to be lower in population.”

This was noticeable in King’s Park, one of the areas featured in the study. 

Wildflowers are a key natural drawcard for WA tourism, with more than 12,000 different species – many unique – drawing in thousands of overseas visitors.

The ABC recently reported Mullewa in WA’s mid-west was having one of its best blooms on record, seeing at least 200 tourists per day. 

Local bee expert Mark Woodcock said bee swarms are also common this time of year due to wildflowers.

“If one tree doesn’t perform well with nectar or pollen, another one will. 

“There are plenty of food sources available for feral urban hives.”

Mr Woodcock said if people found swarms or feral hives this spring or summer, they should contact the WA Apiarist Society at waas.org.au to find a local beekeeper who can take it away.

by TILLY KITCHEN