MOTORCYCLISTS and scooter riders could be allowed to park on city footpaths if Perth councillor Jemma Green gets her way.
Melbourne council lets motorcyclists park on the footpath as long as they don’t obstruct pedestrians, and the Voice occasionally gets calls and emails from Perth riders who want the same rule here.
The Motorcycle Riders Association of WA has lobbied Perth council to allow footpath parking, and Cr Green’s motion asked staff to investigate if it’s feasible, considering issues like oil spills and pedestrian safety.
About 80 per cent of cars in the CBD only have one person in them and studies from around the world show motorbikes alleviate congestion and are better for the environment than cars.
• Perth councillor Jemma Green wants to let motorbikes and scooters park on footpaths, like they do in Melbourne. Photo by Steve Grant
European research reveals that if 10 per cent of people in cars, in Perth-sized cities, switched to motorbikes or scooters, then time spent waiting in traffic plunges by 40 per cent.
If 25 per cent switched, their model shows that congestion disappears completely.
Cr Reece Harley supported looking into the parking proposal, while the other member of the finance and admin committee, Cr Janet Davidson, voted no without saying why (she’s historically voted against a lot of motions tabled by Cr Green).
Last time the idea was raised, Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi wasn’t keen on motorbikes on the footpath, saying pedestrian safety had to come first.
Perth riders noted that many of the motorbike bays in the city are full by 9am, as more people are buying cheap-to-run scooters, and more bays would be needed.
Melbourne’s policy hasn’t gone off without a hitch: blogger Daniel Bowen has documented many problems with riders ignoring the guidelines, not leaving enough space, parking over the top of access points like manhole covers, and parking so close to the road that car drivers can’t open their doors.
PERTH council’s “joke” of a media policy that prevents councillors speaking to the press has been granted a stay of execution.
City staff, including new CEO Martin Mileham, recommended that councillors adopt a new policy letting them give their personal opinions to the press (provided they didn’t purport to be representing the city’s view).
The new policy had the backing of the Local Government Department and would bring Perth into line with just about every other council in the state, except for the City of Stirling.
But at the urging of Cr Jim Adamos, and with the voting power of lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi’s supporters (councillors Jim Adamos, Lily Chen, Janet Davidson, Judy McEvoy and Keith Yong), the policy was sent back to committee to draft special rules for social media interactions.
Cr Reece Harley, who for years has been pushing for the right to speak his mind to the media, described the current policy as a “joke” that frequently gets flouted.
Cr Jemma Green and James Limnios were also keen to see the media gag binned, with Cr Limnios saying “the silliness has to end”, at last week’s committee meeting.
He’d vowed to keep speaking his mind, despite previously being issued with a breach notice on a Monday morning.
It’ll take at least a month before the proposed policy, with its new social media clauses, returns to council.
LABOR has fulfilled its pre-election promise to scrap unpopular plans to widen segments of Guildford Road.
Late last year the WA Planning Commission tentatively floated long-term plans to widen a six kilometre stretch of Guildford Road between Tonkin Highway and East Parade.
The upgrade wouldn’t have added lanes, but instead create wider footpaths, bike paths and “cheat lanes” at intersections to give buses a head start.
The proposal would have affected 300 homes and 60 businesses, with long term plans to buy up the land in preparation for the eventual widening.
• Graeme Reany showing the line to where his property would have been affected by the proposed widening of Guildford Road. File photo
Locals were furious, with homeowners like Graeme Reany forming the “Guildford Road to Ruin” protest group to oppose the plans.
They presented a petition to parliament with 2000 signatures opposing the scheme amendment.
Ahead of the March election, Labor promised to scrap the plan, and on June 2 new planning minister Rita Saffioti and Maylands MP Lisa Baker announced it was officially dead following the WAPC’s report to government stating that the consultation process had revealed many concerns and that the plan should be withdrawn.
“The proposed Metropolitan Region Scheme Amendment has been officially stopped,” Ms Saffioti announced.
The WAPC report states they’ll consider future improvement of that section of Guildford Road “within the existing reservation”.
WEAK corporate business controls, inconsistent management reporting, and surging spending that’s projected to outstrip revenue has been uncovered by an independent report into the City of Perth.
Councillors spent $500,000 on the independent Deloitte, “organisational capability and compliance assessment”.
At the time of the vote in March, lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi said the audit would show everything was running smoothly.
The authors of the Deloitte are up-front that they do a “critical assessment”, so it was never going to be a pat on the back for council, but even so it outlined 17 findings of concern and made five recommendations on how the the City of Perth could improve.
There was only one legal breach uncovered by the audit: “City of Perth Parking does not have a business plan, which is required under the Local Government Act 1995 for major trading undertakings.”
Breach
The report also found that in some cases the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand’s doing: “There is no clear alignment between organisational strategy and business unit strategy. Misalignment leads to conflicting priorities between business units.”
It also outlined concerns that “since 2013/14, revenue growth has not kept pace with expenditure growth”.
The chart shows expenditure keeps rising while the amount the city’s bringing in is starting to taper off, and it faces big expenses like the state government’s Perth Parking Levy, which took a 22 per cent chunk out of the council’s most recent budget.
The five recommendations included coming up with a “clear organisational strategy” to “make deliberate choices about the organisation’s future business model”.
At this week’s council meeting, Cr Reece Harley moved that they accept those five recommendations “in principle”.
He had support from councillors James Limnios and Jemma Green, but the rest of the councillors voted to send the recommendations off to committee first.
Following the release of the report, Ms Scaffidi said most other councils wouldn’t have the guts to undergo a Deloitte audit.
THE bike boulevard at Mount Hawthorn will be extended following a mildly successful five month trial.
Turning a chunk of Shakespeare Street into a bike priority zone had initially split the neighbourhood, but with 60 per cent of submissions supporting the trial it went ahead in December last year, with the Department of Transport footing the bill.
Based on two days’ monitoring, the on-road paint, slow points and traffic calming gateways resulted in a 25 per cent increase in the number of bikes on the street.
• An artist’s impression of the Mount Hawthorn bike boulevard. Image supplied
Significant
But Vincent Cr Dan Loden noted that “two data points is not statistically significant”.
Phase one ran along Shakespeare Street from Green Street to Scarborough Beach Road, and the DoT plan to run phase two south of Scarborough Beach Road to Richmond Street.
Councillors were supportive in principle, but were adamant at last week’s briefing that all costs be born by the DoT, including the next round of consultation.
The DoT has budgeted $500,000 per kilometre to build the extended boulevard, but Vincent staff say that figure does not include “significant works expected at the Scarborough Beach Road intersection to facilitate a safer crossing point, nor the design and community consultation”.
• After many failed attempts, Voice cartoonist Chatfield finally got one of his cartoons accepted by The New Yorker. Above is one of the many cartoons that we think is great, but didn’t quite make the NY cut.
Silent majority
I WOULD like to comment on Sonia Gurrin’s Speaker’s Corner in the Voice (“Love and ‘marriage’,”June 3, 2017).
I feel that her article is misleading and only speaks to one side of the story.
I don’t believe that 65 per cent of Australians agree with marriage equality.
I believe there are many who disagree, but because it is not politically correct to say so, or just because they have never been asked, we don’t hear from these people and their opinions. I also don’t agree that they don’t want to have their say on this issue.
In fact, I feel that on something of this great importance, everyone should get the chance to have a say.
What do the LGBTI community have to lose?
If they are right and the majority agrees, then it will come clear through a plebiscite.
But at least we will have decided together and we will all have the chance to decide in a democratic way if this is what we want.
The Liberal government was voted in on the promise that they would run a plebiscite.
If that is not proof enough that this is what the Australian people want, then I am not sure what is?
It would be great if the Voice could run a similar article speaking to the arguments for keeping our definition of marriage as it is.
I think in this debate, we all deserve to hear both sides of the story. Anthea Smith, Voice reader
Scotch mist
RE: John Carey’s call for ideas to revitalise East and West Perth (‘Reach for the summit’, Voice, June 3, 2017).
Where exactly is the ‘lake of vibrancy’ referred to in the article?
I, for one, would like to dip my toe in.
I’m assuming it’s not the one in Hyde park as that consists mainly of sludge, so has Lake Monger been rebranded?
And people call Perth dull. Milo Bell Walcott Street, North Perth
Pie in the sky
THIS is a formal complaint regarding the letter you published on May 27, 2017, titled, ‘Keep Politics out of Council’.
Fred David clearly spells out who he is addressing when he separates the 98 per cent (straight) from the two per cent (gay), before encouraging any of the 98 per cent to “shove a pie in the face of the two per cent”.
In light of the recent incident involving Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and the criminal charge of assault levelled against the offender by WA Police, it seems Mr David is inciting similar violent acts to be perpetuated against anyone perceived to be of the ‘two per cent’.
I applaud your decision to publish Mr David’s letter as I believe in an open dialogue, even when it’s this hateful.
However, I have written to the WA Police, the Australian Human Rights Commission, and the NSW Gay and Lesbian Lobby seeking clarification as to whether charges can be pursued against Mr David along the lines of “Inciting to Violence”.
He can hate ‘disgusting’ gays all he likes, but if he seeks violent assault against members of the LGBTI community then I cannot leave that unchallenged. Dallas Robertson PO Box, Inglewood The Ed says: In our experience, trying to silence the Mr Davids of the world through punitive measures as you’ve suggested doesn’t change attitudes, it hardens them. It also gives them the opportunity to claim to be the victim of oppression, thereby muddying the argument. We’d rather he be free to make his comments and hope that perhaps someone of influence in his life might see his letter and quietly give him so food for thought. We felt his letter was clearly making a cultural reference rather than a call to pie arms.
Taxing times
TELL Landgate the boom is over
Landgate sets the GRV (gross rental values) for WA.
It is supposedly reviewed triennially for the metro area and every three to five years for country areas. Perth metro was last reviewed August 1, 2012.Perth’s economic bonanza from the mining boom is over. Landgate is two years late in a review, placing undue stress on struggling households.
Land tax, water rates, EMS (emergency services levy) and council rates are all calculated from the GRV valuation.
No doubt the lateness in the review is due to the impact it would have on the state coffers from the current rental market in Perth.
Local governments set the minimum rate for properties inside their boundaries. In effect the smallest properties carry a disproportionately large share of the rates load. M Whitworth Caribbean Drive, Safety Bay
Following Bayswater council’s vote to support marriage equality, we’ve heard from councillors, conservatives, Christians and concerned citizens on the issue of LGBTI marriage. In this week’s SPEAKER’S CORNER we hear the Zen Buddhist point of view, with extracts from a statement sent to us by Venerable Reverend MUYJOWILLIAMS. The Reverend is an ordained Zen Monk who trained in Kyoto Japan, a teacher of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, and the spiritual director of the Jizoan Rinzai Zen Temple Perth. The statement he wrote, on behalf of the Australian Zen Studies Institute, is co-signed by three dozen fellow Buddhist leaders.
This is not so much Spaceship Earth, as Rowboat Earth, and everyone must get a seat and those who can row, row, and for those who can’t that’s OK, some will row for them, so long as we stop squabbling about who gets a place, and leave no one behind or we will sink in the depths of our own making.
In our time of man-made environmental crisis and disaster, nuclear threat, finite recourses, wondrous technology advance, and fluid borders, this is our opportunity, this is our human prerogative.
We should be ashamed of the current circumstance of marriage equality and take up change because it is the right thing to do.
We recognise this is equality not for some, but for everyone, to consider all people as equal and free.
• The Venerable Reverend Muyjo Williams at the Jizoan Temple Perth. Photo by Steve Grant
We should not judge by the group, any person who judges by the group is in ignorance and the Buddha taught that ignorance is the root of suffering; we should take people, individually, as they are.
To do this we must overcome group identity by making everyone equal, in our personal lives and under law.
In doing so we embrace each other as Humanity, we become Rinzai’s ideal ‘person of no-rank’.
Zen Buddhist values support LGBTI people
The Australian Zen Buddhist community acknowledges the rights of LGBTI in the Australian community and throughout the world.
In accordance with the values of equality and egalitarianism which we believe to hold true in Australia, we believe that the LGBTI community should be accorded full rights and freedoms as they are in this nation for any other peoples.
The Bodhisattva Way includes all beings and does not discriminate.
All beings are originally Buddhas, this very body, the body of Buddha being.
The Australian Zen Buddhist community therefore condemns all forms of homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation.
There is no justification for such abuse and disrespect and it is essential that all perpetrators of homophobia are prosecuted and held responsible for such offensive comments both in the eyes of society and before the law.
LGBTI marriage must be recognised
The statement of support for equality across all communities is not just a matter of temporal agreement or approval, it is rooted firmly in the Buddha Way and, therefore, in concert with all Zen communities and all human communities in our view.
Denial of equality under the law and society leads to suffering, based in ignorance. Suffering in this instance can take the form of denial of access to loved ones, legality of parental relationships, fair and equal division of property and observance of chartered bequests, contracts and wishes.
None of this should be acceptable in a healthy society as described. It is quite simple, to separate out one group of people from another and insist their rights are different is harmful action and one and the same with harmful thought.
Harmful thought is by definition that which causes separation from reality and that is same as suffering.
A society which allows harm and perpetuates it through excluding the rights of some is by definition, ill. The cure to this illness is inclusion and understanding. In this case, the inclusion and understanding is that all should have access to loved one’s equally, property equally, recognition of parental relationships and all other contracts under law.
All people, therefore, in the society should, regardless of gender and sexuality, have access to and recognition of, marriage equally under law in all society. We feel that this is basic and intrinsic in value to the Buddha way and therefore, to all humanity.”
You can read the full statement submitted to the parliament’s draft marriage equality bill at:
THE name of this Northbridge eatery became apparent the minute we stepped inside—the gloom swirling with dark figures and brooding shadows.
The trendy black-on-black decor at the Shadow Wine Bar is sure to appeal to its groovy-hipster demographic.
• Shadow Wine Bar
Fortunately a single light burned over a booth table, otherwise my dinner companion and I would have struggled with the small print on the menu.
Heading to the State Theatre we were in a bit of a hurry, which didn’t go down well with either of the waiters we alerted to our haste.
Obviously we weren’t young or hip enough to be of great importance, and my companion and I began to worry if we’d make the curtain call.
To the credit of the waiting staff, our beautifully plated food arrived in record time, but still no smile.
The menu is “classic European dining” according to Shadows’ webpage.
There’s a selection of starters, including veal carpaccio ($20), wild mushrooms with radicchio and smoked mozzarella ($16), and a seared yellowfin tuna ($22).
We opted to share from the main menu, with a Shark Bay crab spaghettini ($34), and a roast pumpkin with manchego, black lentils and walnut dressing ($22).
A generous amount of crab flesh ensured this dish was enjoyable, but it didn’t take our palettes to the heights expected: “It’s nice but rather pedestrian,” my well-travelled friend opined.
The pumpkin was a saver: the nuttiness of the black lentils and walnut dressing a great foil for the sweetness of the perfectly-cooked pumpkin flesh.
The dessert menu had our taste buds wanting to stay and try the chocolate nemesis ($14), or perhaps a pear tarte tatin with tonka bean ice cream ($15).
Hailing from South America, the tonka is said to be so good it should be illegal, so perhaps a revisit is on the cards.
by JENNY D’ANGER
Shadow Wine Bar 214 William Street, Northbridge 6430 4010
THERE’S some shockers when it comes to country and western song titles, including I Flushed You From the Toilets of My Heart, and I Wanna Whip Your Cow.
So, All Our Exes Live in Texas isn’t so bad.
Then again Elana Stone, Katie Wighton, Hannah Crofts and Georgia Mooney weren’t expecting to use the band name for more than a single show.
The four friends were invited to form a band for an Oh Brother Where Art Thou tribute show and needed to come up with a name in a hurry.
“We googled the worst country titles of all time…potentially we would have put in more thought if we thought it would stay,” Mooney says.
• All Our Exes Live in Texas. Photo supplied
Three years on, the Exes have criss-crossed the globe with their distinctive indie/blues/folk beats.
Last month they were touring the US with Midnight Oil, and previously they toured with the Backstreet Boys, Passenger, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, not to mention Australian icons Mama Kin and Kate Miller-Heidke.
They were shortlisted for the Vanda & Young Songwriting competition and nominated for four National Live Music Awards.
Their Tell Me film clip is an hilarious take on the modern break up, which made it into the top 10 film clips of 2014 by Double J.
The no-holds-barred story is told through a soccer match, with the Exes on one side and their exes on the other.
“We were all playing soccer at the time and the world cup had just come on—I was obsessed with soccer,” songwriter Mooney says.
Play the Devil’s Part, by Hannah Crofts, took the group in a new direction: “We were aware we have a tendency to sound a bit twee…and were experimenting with spookier sounds,” Mooney says.
There’s nothing “twee” about the song, or the clip with its mix of occult and murder.
“Hannah was watching a lot of crime and cult docos and had become fascinated with the Manson girls,” Mooney says.
“But it’s really a song about making bad choices in love.”
The Exes are touring Australia with their debut album, When We Fall.
A testament to their musical strength, it’s a sweet and potent lament on love.
You can catch All Our Exes at Babushka (Leederville Hotel) Saturday June 24, and at Fremantle’s Fly By Nightclub, Sunday, June 25. Tix at http://www.allourexesliveintexas.com.
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20) The week begins with a full Moon. It’s in Sagittarius. This means that you are likely to go headlong into an enquiry into truth, or gallop flat-strap to the distant hills. Are you going to meet what’s before your eyes, or high-tail it? Either way you’ll go at pace. Accept yourself no matter what.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20) Venus is pleasantly ensconced in Taurus. Your capacity for enjoying the finer, and indeed the simpler things of life, is beautifully and acutely attuned. The full Moon at the beginning of the week might ruffle some feathers. Wait drama out patiently. It will pass. Dance your feelings.
GEMINI (May 21 – June 21) There’s a full Moon shining in your eyes at the beginning of the week. It’s in Sagittarius. You are in effect face to face with all your opposite, though potentially complementary, qualities. Life is suggesting you be directed rather than scattered. Travel beyond your normal boundaries.
CANCER (June 22 – July 22) Mars is in Cancer. He is feisty – and gets cranky when he doesn’t get his way. Frustration is definitely on the cards. You’ll have to be wise not to fall prey to this. Hold to your aims relaxedly. The moment you get too identified, the going gets tricky. Secure yourself a pleasurable pastime.
LEO (July 23 – Aug 22) The full Moon in Sagittarius should unblock any pathways that have been blocked. As you get back on track with your evolutionary trajectory, life will throw in some sudden changes that will offer you the sense of liberation you have been hoping for. Are you ready to step up and fly?
VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22 Communication is what is most important – and words are failing you! The next step is song. If that doesn’t work, dance. Be versatile with your choice of modes of expression. There are a multitude of ways to say things. The full Moon will give you a boost. Ride its psychic wave.
LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23) Though life is providing you with plenty of intellectual stimulation, it is your intuition that is offering up the most creative path forward. Listening to it will probably make you feel a bit shaky. It’s not suggesting that you remain with the status quo. It’s offering a deeper kind of joy.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21) Transforming yourself will transform your relationships. Transforming your relationships will transform you. It works both ways. The Sun’s journey through flighty but brilliant Gemini, is giving your creative impulse the oxygen it needs to come up with fresh ideas and fresh approaches.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21) The Moon is full at the beginning of the week, in Sagittarius. You are the one most likely to be affected by its deep silvery orb. Saturn is sitting right behind it. You are going to have an after-burner on your emotions, whilst experiencing downward pressure to be wise. Interesting.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19) The Gemini Sun is flooding you with possibility. Where your thinking can sometimes be bound by structure and functionality, it is now like a bird that’s just been released from an enclosed room. Possibilities are akin to an endless sky. We are mostly bound by our own limited mindsets.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18) Life continues to weed out experiences and beliefs from your history that no longer serve any worthwhile purpose. Your psyche is being winnowed. Though you are saying goodbye to one whole set of identities, the space is opening up for you to recreate yourself. Refresh thyself.
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20) As you make sense of your life, so everyone else around you, before you and after you, is affected. Bring your brain into harmony, with understanding, insight and awareness – and the ripple effects are bordering on the miraculous. Keep looking ahead. The road ahead is a healing flight.
Perth Voice Interactive 