Perth Voice Interactive

VINCENT council will officially pull out of the Leederville Gardens Retirement Village by July next year.

Vincent has been managing the 66-unit village since 2002, but a restructure and staff turnover has left it so short of people qualified to run a retirement home that it’s had to call in consultants to help.

Now it wants to get out of management completely and simply take a “stewardship” role with the facility’s management board.

The council took over management of Leederville Gardens from an off-branch of the St Ives Group after a number of residents complained to councillors they weren’t getting value for money and there were conflicts of interest within the management group.

A council report at the time found it could lead to reduced management fees and lower operating costs, partly because there’d be no profit margin if the council ran the facility and ratepayers’ funds could subsidise costs.

But the current administration doesn’t have such a rosy view.

“It is considered inappropriate and inequitable for the city to subsidise the service, particularly as external professional providers are now likely able to provide the service directly at a lower cost to the village residents than on a full cost recovery fee from the city,” a report to last week’s council meeting said.

The council had been charging the village’s board around $50,000 a year in management fees.

Under new CEO Len Kosova that was tripled to reflect estimates of how much it has been costing to run the place.

MOHAMMAD sits quietly in Stirling Gardens near council house, scattering oats to a small crowd of pigeons before scooping one up and attaching a ring of colourful plastic to its leg.

It’s to celebrate Christmas, says the Afghani refugee.

The former construction worker moved to Perth 13 years ago, a peak time in the Afghanistan war, and is now a full-time carer for his sick son.

For the last three years he has spent his free time with Perth’s pigeons.

Earlier this week, Mohammad began deftly catching the pigeons and attaching the hand-crafted rings of red, green and white plastic. They continue clucking around his feet and don’t seem to mind the intrusion.

Mohammad says he inherited his love of birds from his father, who used to feed more than 500 pigeons from the top floor of an apartment building in Afghanistan.

“I have no family, these are my family,” Mohammad says sadly.

“Every day I come here about 4 o’clock and bring food like this.

“I love everything, especially for bird … some people saying ‘human is very good’, but the animals is not killing people.

“I want to put all this colour on the leg for Christmas,” Mohammad chuckles.

Mohammad says bird numbers are declining; while he used to feed a crowd of about 70 pigeons, fewer than 20 come to visit him but he doesn’t know what’s happening to them.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

AN environmental group say they were snubbed by environment minister Albert Jacob when they tried to deliver a petition against plastic bags earlier this week.

Greenpeace-affiliated Ban the Bag campaigners spent two months trying to organise a meeting with Mr Jacob, but were told a ban on single use plastic shopping bags is not something he’s willing to talk about.

March

So they decided to march the 5000-strong petition directly to Mr Jacob’s office in Dumas House, West Perth, only to have the door shut in their face.

Ban the Bag ambassador Bhaval Chandaria says the group is “disappointed”, but will mail the petition to Mr Jacob before trying to table it through the shadow environment minister.

“The convenience of a plastic bag no longer outweighs the damage they are imposing on our environment”, Ms Chandaria says.

“Australians use around 4 billion plastic bags a year – that’s a whopping 10 million a day…The average plastic bag is used for just 12 minutes but can remain in the environment for up to 1000 years.”

The WA local government authority is currently gauging support for a statewide ban, asking mayors around the state for their opinion on the issue.

WA Labor has indicated it prefers an individual council approach over a statewide ban.

Plastic bag bans already exist in South Australia, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, and Tasmania. Queensland’s LibNat government this week announced it would also be phasing out single-use bags, both biodegradable and non-biodegradable.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

MANNA INC has been given a lifeline by Vincent council to keep feeding homeless people in Weld Square.

The council has been under pressure to move the volunteer service after 90 petitioners complained it was leading to anti-social behaviour close to their homes and businesses.

But a search of the city hasn’t found anywhere else suitable, so the council has given Manna a 12-month approval to operate in the square, with a raft of conditions.

A staff report says Manna has been a good citizen, with its managers quick to address problems raised by the council.

“Advice from the WA police confirms that anti-social behaviour a Weld Square has dropped significantly since the movement of the free meal service to the afternoon, and therefore this would not be a justifiable reason to discontinue the service at that location,” a report to the council said.

But staff weren’t prepared to offer a longer lease because of the residents’ concerns and said the situation would continue to be monitored.

During a recent street survey, Ruah Community Services found 28 people sleeping rough in Vincent, with another 319 throughout the Perth CBD.

In Vincent their average age was 37 and 65 per cent were male. Nearly half the homeless people were indigenous even though they make up just 2.4 per cent of Australia’s population.

A LEMON scented gum has become just the seventh privately-owned entry on Vincent council’s inventory of significant trees.

The gum tree (Corymbia citriodora) at 19 Dunedin Street in Mount Hawthorn was found to provide good shade cover and be of “outstanding aesthetic quality” by a council-appointed arborist.

“Assessment has revealed a well-formed crown structure and tree vitality was assessed as high, indicative of the potential of the tree to maintain/improve the current condition and a useful life expectancy of 40-plus years is deduced,” the arborist’s report read.

Vincent has had a significant tree register since 1997, but it was expanded in 2013 to allow private landowners to nominate trees on their property.

YOKINE resident Rae Willis has won the 2016 Bert Harris award for supporting victims of crime.

The award is the attorney general’s highest honour, but Ms Willis says she received it on behalf of dozens of other volunteers who also deserved it.

Families

Ms Willis volunteers with the Victim Support and Child Witness Service, guiding homicide victims’ families through trials, assisting them with criminal justice compensation, and referring them to professional counsellors.

“I am amazed by the strength of the families we support. Day after day hearing quite gruesome evidence, it is quite rewarding to be able to help these people,” Ms Willis says.

“Quite often it’s just an ear that we lend so they can actually pour out what they want to get off their chest.

“In my mind I was receiving it on behalf of a whole number of volunteers who are more than worthy … so it was a huge surprise to me but very humbling and a huge privilege to receive this award.”

Attorney general Michael Mischin said Ms Willis is the “gold standard of volunteers”.

“She has a calm and comforting presence and is at ease when dealing with victims who are distressed and upset,” Mr Mischin said.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM