Perth Voice Interactive

THE murky Maylands Lakes are getting a bit of TLC this weekend with a busy bee organised by the Friends of Maylands Lakes and Bayswater council.

Volunteers will help clean out debris from the stream that runs between the brickworks lake and Lake Bungana.

Local ward councillor Catherine Ehrhardt says the idea was born after chatting to local Margaret Landre about baby animals who are born in the brickworks lake, and eventually use the stream to swim down to Lake Bungana.

“There’s oblong turtles, cygnets, baby ducklings … they breed in the brickworks lake and then use that stream as a transit route to get to Lake Bungana,” Cr Ehrhardt says.

Volunteers plan to clean out the debris on Sunday and then next August they’ll head back to plant sedges, providing an extra layer of filtration for all the muck in the lake, but leaving it accessible to baby critters on their rite of passage to adulthood.

Along with helping out the lakes and animals, Cr Ehrhardt says “it’s also a community-building exercise.”

“They get a chance to get to know their neighbours and work together for a common cause and it gives them a better sense of ownership of the area.”

Last weekend Cr Ehrhardt was down at the Eighth Avenue busy bee where locals came down to pick up litter, sweep the footpaths, plant flowers, and one trader even had to get out an angle grinder to sheer off old bubblegum stuck to the footpath.

“We ended up getting about 30 or 40 people who came down and helped on the day which was really great,” Cr Ehrhardt says.

“Even in the couple of days afterwards, other shop owners who’d seen the cleaning seemed to have taken more pride in the street, getting out there and cleaning off their tired old dusty windows.”

The lakes busy bee is on Sunday (May 7) from 9.30am to 11.30am and will meet at the Lake Bungana Playground on Maylands Peninsula.

All the info’s on the “Maylands Lakes Busy Bee – Brickworks Stream Facebook page”.

by DAVID BELL

OFFICE workers and Northbridge locals have been scoffing free meals prepared for the homeless at Weld Square, leading to “tension” between the groups.

Manna Inc provides meals for the homeless and disadvantaged six days a week down at the square, but a May 2 Vincent council report stated “reports of office workers and locals accessing the free meals has increased”.

“…this has resulted in tension between those experiencing homelessness and those who do not fit this target group.”

The minutes suggested they “inform local businesses and worksites of Manna Inc’s purpose and discourage them from attending”.

Vincent council, which owns Weld Square and allows Manna Inc to operate there, has been getting quarterly updates on the situation following a rash of complaints from nearby residents and businesses who said Manna’s patrons were causing trouble, shouting, fighting and threatening neighbours. But from December to March there were no reported complaints to Manna Inc, Nyoongar Outreach Services, or Vincent council rangers (though police stats weren’t provided).

by DAVID BELL

BAYSWATER council has voted to publicly support marriage equality after an emotive debate split the chamber 5-4.

Cr Catherine Ehrhardt’s motion drew a lot of support from the public gallery at last Wednesday’s council meeting, including Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker and her long-term female partner.

Guidance

“We have been a couple for 28 years, and for 28 years we have not been permitted to marry,” Ms Baker told the gallery.

“The role of any council is to provide leadership and guidance with the community.”

The city will now write to the federal government urging a free vote in parliament to pass marriage equality — as opposed to a plebiscite which would be non-binding and cost around $160 million — and will lobby the Turnbull government to allow anyone to get married.

Federal Perth Labor MP Tim Hammond attended the council meeting and said his late sister-in-law, Sharon was gay and she “had a partner for 16 years, and personally I could never look Sharon in the eye and tell her she didn’t have the same right to be married to her partner as I did”.

Mr Hammond said councillors had a responsibility to represent their local wards but also to “play the role as leaders within their community”.

Several locals voiced support. Morley’s Sonia Green said: “equality is council business and leadership is council business, and looking after your citizens’ rights is council business. I want to know my council represents my interests as a ratepayer, as a person and as a community member.

“Not supporting the motion tonight means that Bayswater city council does not support the concept of equality, and that’s not Bayswater’s style.”

Bayswater residents’ association head Tony Green, was the only person in the gallery to speak against the motion.

“Do councillors really want to make a decision that may well alienate 98 per cent of ratepayers in the city who are not part of the two per cent of the gay community?” he said.

“Will councillors have to state their personal connections to the gay community as vested or trivial interests when they vote on this matter?”

Councillors Ehrhardt, Barry McKenna, Dan Bull, Stephanie Coates, and John Rifici voted for the motion, with councillors Cornish, Fleeton, Michelle Sutherland and Sally Palmer voting against. Bayswater became Australia’s 45th council to support marriage equality.

by DAVID BELL

PERTH VOICE cartoonist Jason Chatfield has had one of his doodles accepted for the prestigious New Yorker magazine.

The former Perth lad now lives in the Big Apple, pursuing his stand-up comedy and cartooning dreams, while still collaborating with the Perth Voice for our weekly toons and working on a little strip called Ginger Meggs.

And after many failed attempts, Chatfield has finally had one of his cartoons accepted by the New Yorker.

Inscrutable

The posh magazine is known for its esoteric and sometimes inscrutable cartoons drawn in a characteristic sparse style with a single-line caption (an insider joke suggests that a true New Yorker cartoon should be able to be captioned with the sentence “Christ, what an asshole!” and still make sense — or at least as much sense as the original).

It’s so tough to get a toon accepted that 60 Minutes devoted an entire segment to the agonising process.

Over the years Chatfield’s submitted plenty of cartoons to the New Yorker’s cartoon gatekeeper Bob Mankoff (an industry legend who’s recently announced he’s leaving the magazine to head over to work as Esquire’s “humour editor”).

Chatfiled first met up with Mankoff in 2014 and nervously put 10 cartoons in front of him.

There was a lot of “hmms”.

One doodle was met with the review; “Hmm. Toilet humour… no.”

None were accepted.

He continued to submit cartoons for the next two and a half years, and last month was called in to meet Mankoff again.

This meeting lasted “approximately 21 seconds”, as Chatfield dumped some cartoons on the legend’s desk and handed over his email to his assistant.

Four days later he got the email from Mankoff himself: “We are buying this cartoon.”

He says the one Mankoff chose was actually one he put in to make the others look better.

The exact cartoon remains under wraps until the New Yorker publishes it.

Calling in to Simon Beaumont’s 6PR show with the good news this week, Chatfield reminded listeners of his roots in our humble Cliff Street office.

“You can still see my stuff in the Perth Voice every week if you miss the New Yorker.”

You can read the whole tale of his New Yorker quest here:

http://www.jasonchatfieldcomedy.com/blog/2017/4/26/new-yorker-part-1

by DAVID BELL

THE organisers of the Inglewood night markets want to slow down cars on the Stirling stretch of Beaufort Street.

Known as Inglewood on Beaufort, the community network has started a petition calling on Stirling council to introduce a variable speed limit on the road, similar to the system used by Vincent council on its stretch of Beaufort Street.

Under the system, when there are lots of people crossing, the signs display 40kmh, and when pedestrians are sparse they return to 60kmh.

The IOB petition states “on a daily basis residents and businesses on and close [to] the stretch of Beaufort Street through the City of Stirling have to deal with speeding cars.

Risky

“This makes crossing the road, especially for children and the elderly, a risky affair.

“And far too often the sound of honking horns and screeching tires make those nearby nervous that it [might] result in the crunch of metal or worse.”

The IOB petition states the reduced speed limit in Vincent “has been an overwhelming success”.

They’ve also seen slower speeds make things nicer in their stretch of the street when the limit gets down to 40kmh, “which instantly creates a safer, more comfortable environment for those enjoying a bite to eat, live music or a browse of the many fantastic shops along the strip”.

As for motorists worried about slower trips, IOB estimate the reduced speed limit would add 1.5 to two minutes to their journey.

The petition is online at http://www.change.org/p/main-roads-wa-and-city-of-stirling-make-beaufort-street-safer-through-inglewood-and-mount-lawley.

It has 110 signatures and once it reaches 200, IOB will be sending it to Main Roads and Stirling council.

by DAVID BELL

A MOVE to donate $5000 of ratepayers’ money to help feed starving kids in South Sudan has been narrowly voted down by Bayswater council.

Cr Sally Palmer had tabled a motion to bolster UNICEF’s relief effort.

“Conflict, a failing economy and extreme weather have collided in South Sudan, creating a humanitarian catastrophe for children … more than a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished and need immediate, lifesaving aid,” stated her motion to council.

She said the $5000 donation would have equated to seven cents from each resident.

But her motion was defeated, despite Bayswater previously donating $10,000 to the Typhoon Haiyan relief in 2013, $10,000 to the Pakistan Flood relief and $5000 to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal in 2010.

Mayoral dinner

Bayswater mayor Barry McKenna suggested they take the money out of the $40,000 annual mayoral dinner fund, and said he’d rather spend it on worthy causes than “one big nosh up”.

“I’m quite happy not to have a mayoral dinner and put the $40,000 back in the budget,” he said.

At the meeting Tony Green, president of the Bayswater City Residents Association, asked “why is council now considering giving away this enormous amount of ratepayer’s money to something which has absolutely no relation or benefit to either the city or its ratepayers?

“Do they not realise foreign aid is the responsibility of the federal government, and not theirs?

“Why don’t individual councillors who feel so concerned about this particular issue make a personal contribution out of their generous allowance that we pay them and leave it at that.”

Cr Brent Fleeton agreed and noted that on March 1, federal foreign minister Julie Bishop announced a $20 million donation to the relief effort overseas.

“$5000 that’s taxed from our local community should be going back to our local community,” he said, saying it could go on kids sporting programs or events that would boost town centres.

by DAVID BELL

SWIMMERS at Stirling’s Terry Tyzack Aquatic Centre say they’re frustrated by congested pools and lack of lane availability at peak times.

Mary Lanigan and her husband were disappointed to discover, after splashing out on a hefty premium for a peak membership, that most lanes were occupied by the Learn to Swim program.

She says that on several occasions only two lanes were available in the inside pool, and they were being used for laps and physic, and the only two free lanes outside were occupied by fast swimmers and learners.

Mrs Lanigan has had several skin cancers cut off her back so using the outdoor pool is not an option.

She says the lack of availability is a safety concern as swimmers with different abilities are forced to share lanes.

“There were about eight people swimming in an available lane and with them all at different speed capabilities so you can imagine how many people were crashing into each other.

“The centre staff say it is not unusual to have at least eight people in the one lane,” Mrs Lanigan says.

The Stirling resident said she complained to Terry Tyzack staff and was told it was the norm “between 3 or 3.30pm, everyday, until 6.30pm. I was told by the centre manager that day that she had many complaints the same, and agreed it was not right but the centre got more money from the learn to swim than from us.”

Stirling council leisure services manager Simone Pastor says there is always a minimum of five lanes accessible to the general public.

“Generally, 3.30pm to 6.30pm is a peak period for Learn to Swim lessons as it is after school and before children’s bed time,” she said. “Members are informed of the variety of users and where to access lane availability on the website should they enquire about the best time to visit the facility.”

Ms Pastor would not confirm how many people can safely share one lane, saying it depends on swimmer’s abilities.

Terry Tyzack members who wish to use the pool at peak times not only have to compete with the Learn to Swim kids, but have to fork out an extra $168 per year on top of the $684 membership fee.

“Of course I am all for children learning to swim but I also feel like I have been ripped off in my membership,” Mrs Lanigan says.

“One lane in peak time is not what I expected.”

by CHARLIE SMITH