Perth Voice Interactive

KARRINYUP, Trigg, and Carine might secede from Stirling and join Cambridge if a group of residents follow through on the threat of initiating a Dadour proposal with the local government advisory board.

The threat was made at a special meeting of electors on Monday night, where 140 angry residents showed up to criticise the city’s planning division.

A four-storey building in Trigg which blocked neighbours’ ocean views; a four-storey nursing home in Karrinyup which avoided a bushfire assessment; and another nursing home in Carine which dodged street setback requirements have upset residents in the three suburbs.

CEO Stuart Jardine said the developments were all approved by the metropolitan north west JDAP and not the council, although Stirling did assess each one and provide a report.

“It is always concerning when residents feel aggrieved by any development decision and the city always tries to balance planning outcomes with amenity concerns when assessing applications for development,” Mr Jardine said.

“It is however important that once the assessment and consultation process has occurred in relation to a development application that residents understand that a lawful planning decision has been made.”

The electors at the meeting passed a motion of no confidence in the CEO, but councillors won’t get to consider that rebuke until the next council meeting in February 2017.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

CHRISTMAS can be one of the most stressful times for families, so much so that January and February are record months for couples contacting solicitors to seek a separation.

Life Coach and mindset expert Sonia Czernik said tensions mount at Christmas because family and relationships are under the spotlight.

“At other times of the year, couples can ignore the dysfunction, because kids are at school and at least one of the parents are at work,” said Ms Czernik.

“For many couples they’re actually leading quite separate lives, but at Christmas we can’t avoid each other and our extended families,” she said.

Old hurts

“Old hurts come up, there are arguments with in-laws and the stress of trying to create a perfect memory for your kids.

Ms Czernik says issues such as not feeling loved, heard, paid attention to, and so on can arise, resulting in couples playing the blame game.

“One common internal conflict that I see with clients is unmet expectations, leading to resentment and hurt.

She says managing expectations can come down to being careful about:

• making sure everyone’s extended family gets a visit;

• choosing a thoughtful gift. Vaccuum cleaners are out;

• sharing the workload of organising Christmas shopping, gift wrapping and cooking; and,

• spending quality time together rather than stewing over a wasted holiday.

Ms Czernik says no matter how bad relationships appear, they can be repaired without resorting to separation.

“By identifying the mindset or energetic patterns which gave rise to conflicts they can then be dissolved,” she says.

Ms Czernik has over 35 years experience in mindset management, which includes life coaching, counselling and hypnotherapy, and is offering workshops to help couples. To find out more information, head to http://www.hypnosisandhealth.com.au.

PERTH’s young singers will have the opportunity to learn from experienced mentors at the Perth Choral Institute’s first summer school course.

Internationally acclaimed Australian soprano and early music specialist Sara MacLiver will front the team running the eight-day intensive singing experience in January.

The summer school’s director Hugh Lydon said he hoped the initiative would fill the “sizeable gap” in the WA singing world left by those who may not have access to grass roots training at an early age.

“Many upper school students and undergraduates at universities enjoy and excel at singing, but might not necessarily have received the grassroots training at an early age that educated them how to be a core member of a choir,” Mr Lydon said.

“An aspiring singer can receive tuition or advice from someone who is nationally known, such as Sara MacLiver and Andrew O’Connor, but has grown up in WA.

“Many participants in the course will eventually become core members of every preeminent vocal ensemble in WA, and thus a culture of choral singing can grow further,” Mr Lydon said.

Participants will also perform concerts and services in the Perth Town Hall, St George’s Cathedral and St Patrick’s Basilica.

The first summer school for students aged 15 to 25 will take place in mid-January, 2017.

by CHARLIE SMITH

A BID to slash the $90,000 spent each year on dinners for Bayswater councillors and staff has been dashed, with only two councillors supporting more frugal meals.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s vote, councillor Catherine Ehrhardt told the Voice the “the meals have always felt very extravagant for me”.

The three course meals, which cost $63 per head, feature two meat and a vegetarian option, multiple salad bowls, dessert, a cheese platter and fruit.

The meals chew through most of the council’s $139,000 catering budget.

Cr Ehrhardt says she’s happy to scrap the catering entirely but put up a compromise of light refreshments or an in-house cook rather than a full catering team. “I spoke to the staff; not one of them said they wanted to keep it. They would rather grab a quick bite at their desk and finish some work than come and sit down for an awkward dinner,” Cr Ehrhardt said.

“I feel guilty for partaking, especially when I come out of the council dining room and there’s ratepayers saying ‘it smells lovely, what are you guys having tonight’.

“It’s an archaic holdover from when [being a councillor] was a voluntary position,” she says.

Only Cr Ehrhardt and Stephanie Coates supported scaling back the food to light refreshments. Cr Ehrhardt’s second idea to save money by investigating an in-house cook narrowly passed thanks to mayor Barry McKenna’s casting vote.

Staff will now figure out the costs and feasibility of that option before reporting back to council next year.

by DAVID BELL

TRINITY Uniting Church director of music Jangoo Chapkhana promises a mix of contemporary and traditional music and readings to provide a Christmas service with a difference.

Trinity will host a Festival of Lessons and Carols on Sunday 18 December at 10am, as well as Christmas Day celebrations including an Afrikaans service at 8.30am.

Mr Chapkhana said the service will feature “an inspiring mixture of contemporary and traditional hymns” from his renowned chorale Lux et Veritas, which he wrote in 2013.

“When it comes to Christmas services, we often fall into the trap of going into auto-pilot, and we just do it because it is tradition.

“When something is presented in an unfamiliar format it makes us stop and think about the true meaning of Christmas, rather than if listening to the same music and readings,” Mr Chapkhana said.

The choral specialist will also lead the music at the Christmas Day celebrations.

“The Afrikaans and Christmas Day service will be very bright and vibrant and feature guest artist soprano Priscilla Cornelius,” he said.

by CHARLIE SMITH

ST JOHN’S volunteers are taking to the seas as part of a Leeuwin Foundation initiative to help people with intellectual, sensory, or physical limitations experience an ocean voyage.

Spending five days learning to sail on Australia’s largest sail training ship requires teamwork and perseverance, so it’s a challenge for able-bodied budding sailors but an absolute leap of faith for someone with Down syndrome, autism or a sight-impairment.

Old hurts

But 24 youngsters got the chance to sail the Leeuwin in November as part of a program called Ultimate Challenge, with 16 carers from St John’s and the health department helping them climb masts, haul lines and scrub the deck.

Volunteer ambulance officer Lindsay Ryan said sailing a tall ship was a learning curve, particularly when looking out for others who had a range of different physical and mental capabilities.

But he reckons it was worth battling sea sickness and squeezing into a tiny cabin to see the trainees come out of their shells.

“The trainees, you didn’t know any history of them, what their capabilities were … we had to remind ourselves that we weren’t there for ourselves, we were there to help these kids have a good time,” Mr Ryan said.

“Some of them took to it like ducks to water, but some of the kids were well out of their comfort zone … there were a few meltdowns and things like that.

“It would be fair to say that I travelled the full emotional spectrum several times during my five days at sea; from stories that bring tears to your eyes to the smile of confidence when somebody finds an inner strength they didn’t realise they had.”

Climbing the 33-metre main mast to find a secret message was one of the most popular challenges, and Mr Ryan was surprised by how many trainees conquered it.

“I thought ‘there’s no way he’s going to get up there,’ but he did with a big smile on his face,” Mr Ryan said of one  shy trainee.