BAYSWATER council has been unsuccessful in getting a million-dollar state government grant to keep Maylands Waterland open.
The grant application was a last ditch attempt to get funds to repair the ageing council water park, as the council had already taken its begging bowl to Lotterywest, various politicians and 16 private companies.
Bayswater council will now form a working group to “progress with alternative redevelopment options”, which will most likely be cheaper.
Petition
Originally the working group was just going to be councillors and two city staffers, but Cr Catherine Ehrhardt added an amendment to include two people from the Friends of Maylands Waterland, the community group behind the petition to save the facility.
“They’ve been very proactive in thinking outside the box and we need community representation in the group,” Cr Ehrhardt said.
Josh Eveson from the FOMW attended this week’s council meeting to advocate a “hybrid model”, with part of the waterpark being redeveloped into a free public area–like the splash pad at Hyde Park–and another section with paid access to pools.
Having a free section meant the council could apply for a wider range of grants, and it could also dip into its public open space fund, which you can’t spend on a fenced facility.
THE first ever Maylands Laneway festival kicks off in February 23 from 5.30pm to 8pm.
Lyric Lane (the venue) had hoped to be open in time, but at least the actual laneway itself (off 8th Ave) will be ready for the party with live music, art, a silent disco and snacky stalls.
• John Carey wants a ban on Coles’ “crap” toys and is collecting a petition.
BAN “absolute crap” toys being pumped out by Coles, says Perth MP John Carey.
After public backlash over the Coles Little Shop range of toys, he says it’s unbelievable the supermarket giant has released its “Stikeez” range: little plastic fruit-shaped toys you get for free if you spend more than $30.
“I’m calling for a ban on these,” he says. “I appreciate that this may not be the most popular thing to say, given the Coles toys were incredible popular, and I acknowledge that, but I think it’s the right thing to do.
“We’re already hearing media stories of these small plastic toys being found in the ocean; they’re perfect for animals to swallow.
Irresponsible
“Now Coles is, extraordinarily, bringing out a second phase. It’s totally irresponsible by Coles that they are being required to ban single use plastic bags, and at the same time they’re pumping out what can only be described as absolute crap. This ain’t LEGO! This ain’t something that’s collectable.”
Mr Carey, who collects Star Wars LEGO, concedes it could be tricky drawing up legislation that bans promotional freebie toys, but permits high-quality toys like LEGO.
But he wants it considered as part of the state government’s upcoming review into single-use plastics.
“I’ve already spoken to the minister [for environment Stephen Dawson] and I’ll be organising a petition,” he says.
In the meantime Mr Carey says “my personal message is: don’t encourage this,” and refuse the toys when they’re offered at the checkout.
Coles has already copped some criticism from angry customers, with their social media peppered with complaints about the Stikeez, but the supermarket giant claims they “are collectable items and designed for customers to keep”.
“Customers can choose not to receive them and for those who do we hope they enjoy them for a long time into the future.”
They come in little plastic wrappers, which Coles says can be recycled in soft plastics bins in-store.
In November 2018 one of the little shop plastic toys was reportedly washed up on a beach in Bali.
A VESTIGIAL law that required transgender people to get divorced if they wanted to officially change their gender has been abolished by state parliament.
The law dates back to when same-sex marriage was banned and people had to get divorced if they wanted to get a gender recognition certificate.
Maylands MP Lisa Baker spoke on the bill in WA parliament last year, saying “members cannot possibly imagine what life must be like for people who have to go through a marriage or their lives having to deny either their gender, identity or love,” she said.
“We have already dealt with the marriage equality issue, but this is a much more endemic and personal issue. In some respects it is about how people identify as human beings at the most basic physical and cultural level.”
The bill was voted through the upper house on Tuesday February 12, just in time for Valentines Day, and was supported by the Liberal party, Labor, the Greens and the Nationals.
Greens North Metro MP Alison Xamon told the upper house the old rule was “hideous and abhorrent”.
She said “if two married people do not wish to get divorced, nothing ever makes it okay for the state to attempt to intervene and force a couple who wish to be married to be divorced”.
After the vote, Ms Xamon said there was more to be done in the fight for equality: “While I was very pleased to debate this important piece of legislation yesterday, transgender Western Australians are still faced with a myriad of unnecessary hurdles in order to have their gender identity officially recognised.
“There is also an immediate need to address the remaining legal barriers that still exist for the LGBTIQ [community] as a whole and serve to undermine people’s human rights.”
Her next step is an upcoming bill amendment which will repeal the Act that allows publicly-funded private religious schools to discriminate against LGBTIQ+ staff, students and parents.
In 2017 the South Coast Baptist College in Rockingham fired a teacher for being gay.
“It is all the more galling considering they receive taxpayer dollars,” Ms Xamon said. “We know that a lot of people would like to see the back of this terribly outdated provision and bring WA in line with the other states.”
Baby, we’ve got a problem WHAT is over-development?
Is it towering structures reaching into the clouds in nearby suburbs?
Is it increasing urban sprawl that digs into out pristine bushland?
Is it urban infill that has thrice as many people in a localised urban area with too many people using the green space?
However you define it, it has at its core, the problem of over-zealous population growth.
Can we supply enough water? Can we use infrastructure efficiently? Do we like where we live?
We have a chance in Australia to manage the migration process and thus our population growth.
To be sure, we need some migration. Our net birth rate is not enough to keep an even playing field of a stable, consistent population.
And we are a generous and wealthy nation and refugees should be afforded our protection … no question about that.
But generalised migration and backdoor residency is a problem that grows the population at an enormous rate each year, and it is that rate of growth that is unsustainable.
It’s hurting us, it’s hurting the environment, it’s hurting our facilities, and we cannot keep up with that very bad federal policy.
When it comes time to vote and make your vote count, think about this issue because it is one we either deal with now or our children (and grandchildren) are going to suffer the consequences. Colin Scott Deague Court, North Perth
Streets away from satisfactory YOUR article on Vincent’s decision to name nine laneways around Beaufort Street (“Names Laned up”, Voice, February 9), missed one important element–Vincent’s failure to consult with the local community on the proposed names.
The report to council stated that the city had complied with Landgate’s consultation requirements; that is not correct.
Landgate has a comprehensive policy concerning the naming of roads and parks.
The policy states that the community must have the opportunity to object to a proposed name, and that the local government must consider any objection.
The policy also provides a five-step process for consulting with the community on any proposed name.
It makes it clear that if a name is suggested by some form of competition, such as adopted by Vincent, the suggested name or names must advertised to the community.
A competition to identify potential names is not to be considered as the only consultation required.
All of this is in black and white, yet the council still decided not to consult the community.|Congratulations to Cr Josh Topelberg for raising the question of community consultation and voting against the proposal, and congratulations to Cr Ros Harley for questioning the names that were ultimately recommended by the staff.
And that’s the other issue: the responses provided to community suggestions exposes a range of highly inconsistent responses from the staff.
One of the suggested Aboriginal words was booma, which means to hit or kill, yet it made it to the shortlist.
The analysis of community submissions does not seem to demonstrate any rigour or internal review.
Sadly, this lack of consultation is becoming more prevalent in Vincent:
• The upgrading of the northern end of Oxford Street, which is funded as a bicycle network project but is actually making it less safe for cyclists, was not advertised to the broad community.
• The bike path which threatens the last stand of ‘original’ jarrah trees on Loftus Street was not advertised to the community.
• The advertising of the proposal for Robertson Park was via a ‘secret’ web page, only advertised to residents in the immediate vicinity, even though the city’s own documents state that the park has a two-kilometre catchment.
• The laneway names were not advertised to the community, but the fact that somebody in Stirling Street wants to have a carport is advertised.
The city should admit they got it wrong and should advertise the names, just like Landgate says they should, and just like their very own proposed procedure says they should. Dudley Maier Highgate
Gran’s advice still holds true MAUREEN GREEN (“Not for kids” Voice Letters, January 26, 2019) should have no trouble devising a simple explanation of the glory hole exhibit at WA Museum, should her grandchildren ask.
When I was six my grandmother took me to the art gallery.
We were confronted with Russell Flint’s dramatic oil painting The Delinquents.
The couple in the painting had clearly gotten themselves into a bad situation.
“What had they done?” I asked Gran.
“They’re juvenile delinquents,” said Gran. “They were caught throwing stones at street lights. I hope you would never do that?”
And I never did. Mike Roeger Maylands
We’re a filthy rich country A RECENT public comment stated that the top one per cent of Australians have more wealth than the bottom 70 per cent combined.
After a recent world survey it was stated that one per cent of the world’s population owns 50 per centof the total assets.
Most of us have heard this statement before, and in my case I thought; “That is all the fat cats on Wall Street”.
However, a few statistics will show that is not true.
There are seven billion people in the world, therefore, one per cent is 70 million people.
The survey stated that 50 per cent of the “one per centers” live in the United States.
That means 17.5 million of these people live in the rest of the world.
The criteria to be a member of this group is to have assets (including your home) of more than US$ 850,000.
Due to the widespread ownership of private residences, considerable other assets plus superannuation balances, I would not be surprised if 3 million Australians qualify in the one per cent group. Fredrick G. McCulloch Donavon Rise, Murdoch
• Fires in the background make a dramatic image in south west Tasmania. Photos by John Nettleton
WITH Australian prime minister Scott Morrison urging Aussies to overlook a bit of singeing and help out their Tasmanian cousins with a holiday to the Apple Isle, the Chook thought it appropriate to whip out WA photographer JOHN NETTLETON’S reflections on his recent trip. As you can see from the above photo, the looming fires weren’t enough to spoil a wonderful holiday.
TASMANIA is the most compact and diverse region in the world!
After travelling for two weeks around Tasmania we can safely say it is the most desirable and easy destination to navigate to see scenery that is different each town and almost every turn in the road.
We started like many in Hobart and stayed in a beautiful B&B in Fern Tree, a 15 minute drive from Hobart and next to the turn off to Mt Wellington.
Travelling up to Mt Wellington was an exciting adventure with winding roads and changing views from giant trees to tundra vegetation as Mt Wellington peaks at 1270 meters.
Port Arthur holds the true history of Tasmania as it is the UNESCO World Heritage listed one of eleven important “Australian Convict Sites”.
Haunting stories
It explains how Hobart-Tasmania was born and formed along to this day.
The ruins of convict buildings has a real sense of life there and the museums display haunting stories of the traumatic life and the impact of forced migration of Australia’s first European settlers.
Not many people go to Dover but we enjoyed swimming in the warm thermal springs and walking through the amazing Hasting Caves.
• Heritage looms large in towns like Stanley.
In Strahan we cruised down the Gordon and Franklin Rivers in the World Heritage listed region of unique Huon pine, Hells Gates, salmon farms, Sarah Island and the Heritage Landing boardwalk to listen to a botanist explain exactly why it is heritage listed and see pristine plants.
The north part of Tasmanian wilderness is Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.
It covers one million hectares of beauty like nothing else on Earth.
The diversity of the landscape of the wild alpine landscapes and ancient rainforests is unique to Tasmania.
In Stanley we were lucky to stay in a unique B&B which in the last century was an Irish Inn and Pub.
Climbing “The Nut” was a challenge but we chose the chair lift to enjoy incredible beach and town views from the comfort of a chair.
At Penny Royal in Launceston we experienced rock climbing, a rope bridge climb walk, and zip lines that force you 100 metres across the huge cliffs in the Penny Royal grounds.
Still in Launceston you can walk a few kilometers along a high walkway to the spectacular Cataract Gorge with Victorian gardens, swimming holes in the Tamar River and the world’s longest single-span chairlift across the First Basin.
Swansea has dramatic and rugged white beaches stretching around to Wineglass Bay lookout.
We climbed up to the lookout which is a little strenuous for beginners, but if you make it an incredible view awaits you with sweeping views across the Tasman Sea and the Tasmanian coast.
If you are fit and an enthusiastic trekker, the actual beach of Wineglass Bay below is well worth it being one of the best in the world.
MOVE over Sister–Sayers; Little Brother is in town.
Restaurateurs Stephanie and Mark Sayer opened the original Sayers in Leederville some years back, before selling up and opening Sayers Sister in Northbridge.
With the eatery’s reputation established the pair saw an opportunity to create a smaller venue, Sayers Little Brother, which now targets locals and businesses in semi-industrial Gladstone Street in Perth.
The service is fast and friendly and the decor is fresh and funky, with polished concrete floors, soaring overhead beams, potted plants and comfy cushions.
The menu is not as sophisticated as Sayers Sister, but just as delicious and includes pumpkin pancakes with maple bacon ($16.50), fried chicken bagel with aioli and Asian slaw ($17.50), and leek and parmesan croquettes with creamed leeks, poached eggs spinach and rocket ($19.50).
There’s also a cabinet of mouth-watering food including my new personal favourite, corn fritters with smashed avocado salsa ($13.50).
The fritter was crisp on the outside and contained plenty of plump corn kernels.
Topped with avo, rocket, sprouts and a dollop of Greek yoghurt, the fritter was perched on a bed of deep-orange capsicum relish.
The dish was a decadent mix of sweet, savoury and piquant.
Sayers Little Brother was recommended by the owner of a home I had just reviewed, who thought I’d like the cakes.
It’s rather disconcerting that a total stranger would know how much I like cake, but also a good thing, because the gluten-free chocolate and almond cake ($7.50) was magnificent.
Little Brother’s coffee is great as well, she added, but I was happy with my generous pot of lemon grass tea, which counteracted the richness of the cake.
by JENNY D’ANGER
Sayers Little Brother 25 Gladstone Street, Perth Mon–Sat breakfast/ brunch
DEATH-DEFYING feats of fire ensure Fuego Carnal is one of the hottest acts at this year’s Fringe World.
Husband-and-wife team Sophie and Jacob McGrath have assembled 11 performers from around the world for this scorching show, which combines circus, cabaret and lots of flames.
Fuego is Spanish for fire, and while carnal sounds a bit steamy it actually means “brothers, more family,” explains Sophie.
Flaming knives
The pair met on a backpacking holiday in Byron Bay and went on to form Dream State Entertainment, which has toured 38 countries for more than 20 years.
“We are first-generation circus; Jacob’s family are farmers from Jerramungup and mine were teachers,” says Sophie, a British ex-pat.
Dream State was based in Fremantle for eight years before moving to Queensland about four years ago.
Their latest WA show has a diverse line-up including Orissa Kelly, who shoots flaming arrows with her feet, and Mattie the Bad Piper, who literally blows audiences away with his flame-throwing bagpipes.
Aerial Manx bathes in fire and swallows the odd sword or two, while Alfredo’s flaming knives whistle past his girlfriend.
Fuego Carnal will be held in a steam punk “tent” designed by Jacob, with smoke and heat dramatically rushing through a hole in the roof.
The show is at the Ice Cream Factory in Northbridge until February 17. For tickets go to http://www.fringeworld.com.au
LOOKING like it could be from the pages of Vogue, this Bayswater home was co-designed and built by the owner.
With only 250sqm to play with he ensured there was no dead space in this three-bedroom house on Slade Street.
In the spacious kitchen there’s lovely Calcatta stone benchtops, which contrast elegantly with black-fronted cupboards, drawers and a tiled splash-back. There’s also a walk-in-pantry.
Stunning space
Conserving more space, a stone island bench can be used as a dining table for up to six adults.
There is huge glass windows in the lounge area, which has access to a small, private courtyard with high walls.
The tinkling water feature in the alfresco is a soothing addition to the raised garden beds filled with beautiful cacti.
The main bedroom is on the ground-floor; a stunning space with a raw-brick feature wall.
Perhaps not for the faint hearted or chronically shy, non-frosted glass separates the en suite shower from the bedroom.
Being an open-minded Freo girl I thought it was all good, but some of the men in the office said they wanted their privates to remain, well, private.
The marble-look vanity is tucked around the corner, and the loo is the smallest room in the house.
The rest of the bedrooms are on the second level, where a huge sitting room with kitchenette and picture windows has views of the leafy streets.
The bathroom is as gorgeous as the en suite with a deep, egg-shaped bath and matching sink in the vanity.
Making the most of available space, there’s a study nook in the hall, which leads to the bedrooms.
Bayswater Village is pretty much on your doorstep and the Eighth Avenue strip is a short drive away.
RED lanterns will line the Roe-Brisbane stretch of William Street to celebrate the Year of the Pig on Sunday February 17.
The celebrations will include stalls, food vendors and roving entertainment.
• Johnny Doan from Northbridge Common, Vincent mayor Emma Cole and Perth commissioner Gaye McMath get ready for the Year of the pig festivities.
The Lunar New Year Lantern Festival, organised by town team Northbridge Common, and Perth and Vincent councils, runs 4pm to 7pm and marks the end of two weeks of new year festivities.
Perth Voice Interactive 