Perth Voice Interactive

IN a bid to reduce garbage being sent to landfill Vincent council is considering offering bigger recycling bins to residents who accept a smaller rubbish bin.

Mayor John Carey says a $20,000 trial will start in November.  “There’s no extra cost. What we’re trying to do is offer it as an environmental incentive; if you’re interested, swap your big bin for a smaller bin and we’ll give you a bigger recycling bin,” Mr Carey said.

“The best outcome is reducing waste to the bin. It’s the classic mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle.”

That means avoiding overpackaged stuff like bananas on a styrofoam package wrapped in plastic, reusing what you can (as compost, or any of the zillion oddball arts and craft ideas on Pinterest), then sending whatever’s left to the recycling bin.

He says Vincent’s waste system is “antiquated” but says reform was delayed by the Barnett government’s failed merger process, since there was little point investing in new systems if the council was to be trash-compacted into Perth.

“Now with our new CEO we’re doing a total review,” Mr Carey says.

Perth MP Eleni Evangel this week called on Vincent to institute a three bin system (garbage, recycling, greens).

She says research released last week shows “the state government’s three bin system increases and simplifies recycling and green waste capacity”. The research from the pilot program (which included Bayswater and Stirling) showed 42 per cent of waste was diverted from landfill in councils with the three-bin system, while only 22 per cent from two-binners.

Mr Carey’s not keen on trying to fit three bins into inner-city Vincent.

“The city considered a three-bin system,” he told the Voice, “and it’s a really simplistic policy to say three bins are the answer.

“First, we’re an inner city community with higher density; it’s impractical to have three bins.” He says many apartment blocks couldn’t fit the extra bins.

He says separating garden waste isn’t as green as it looks and it’s best to set up a compost pile at home.

It’s adding carbon miles for the trip, plus “the mulch that is produced is not of a high quality, unfortunately … it can only be used for limited purposes”.

“People are putting glass, they’re putting other things in there, it’s contaminated mulch so it can’t be packaged up and sold,” Mr Carey said.

“There are environmental costs of getting it out, turning it into mulch, and sending it on. The better way is reducing and reusing the waste in the first place,” he says.

by DAVID BELL

THE head of strings at  UWA, Shaun Lee, will be soloist for the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra’s first concert at North Perth’s Redemptorist Monastery today (Saturday September 24).

Lee will head a program featuring Mozart’s Violin Concerto 3, Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances and Haydn’s Hen symphony.

The new venue will see ample parking for concert-goers this time round. But with the monastery as far from the fires of hell as you can get, they’ve been urged to bring a cushion to keep their bottoms warm on the pews. Everything kicks off at 2pm and tickets are $39 adults and $33 concession and $20 for under-18s.

WHO keeps killing trees? Seven more have been snapped along Oxford Street, discovered Wednesday morning this week.

They were part of Vincent council’s Greening Oxford Street and in death they join a number of more mature trees that have been trashed around town of late.

Mayor John Carey sounded at his wit’s end about the ongoing vegicide.

The tree killings reached their peak in 2014 when about 70 street trees were killed, snapped or vandalised by boofheads. Many were on Beaufort Street, which now has more CCTV.

“It’s disgraceful, it’s bloody disgusting, it’s a deliberate act to do harm to the community,” Mr Carey says.

“It’s a wilful act where someone has gone out and deliberately destroyed trees knowing it has an impact on other people.

“Trees are — and I’m not sounding like a hippy — but trees are incredibly important for our streets to be liveable for people. They cool streets, provide shade, it’s healthy to have green in our greater density areas.”

One small rainbow: Mulch from dead trees in Vincent is now available free to residents, for pickup any time at the corner of Britannia Road and Federation Street in Mt Hawthorn.

by DAVID BELL

THE WA Opposition has linked a billboard promoting Perth Liberal MLA Eleni Evangel to an investigation into lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi’s failure to declare gifts and travel.

Using Parliamentary privilege, Girrawheen Labor MLA Margaret Quirk queried whether the billboard space, provided free of charge on an East Perth building part owned by Ms Scaffidi, created a conflict of interest for the Barnett government.

“Does this not now create a significant conflict of interest for the Liberal government that is in charge of overseeing the case against the lord mayor whilst, at the same time, it is receiving endorsement and resources from her free of charge?” Ms Quirk asked local government minister Tony Simpson shortly before his resignation from Cabinet.

“No I was not aware,” Mr Simpson replied on whether he knew about the building and “no” he didn’t think it was a conflict of interest.

Ms Evangel was a councillor on Ms Scaffidi’s council prior to her elevation to state parliament.

A day earlier local government shadow minister David Templeton questioned Mr Simpson over why a state solicitor’s case against Ms Scaffidi was taking so long to work its way through the state administrative tribunal.

“The corruption and crime commission’s report into Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi… was released almost a year ago,” Mr Templeton said.

After the CCC’s report, which found Ms Scaffidi had “signally failed” in her duties by not reporting and travel freebies, the local government department held its own investigation and in May director general Jennifer Matthews instructed the state solicitors office to prosecute the case on her department’s behalf through the SAT.

“Has the minister requested from the SAT when a final resolution to this saga is likely, and if not, why not?” Mr Templeton asked.

“Why has this saga, which has damaged the reputation of the office of the lord mayor and the City of Perth, not been resolved considering that the premier stated in February this year that he expected a quick resolution to this issue?”

Mr Simpson told him the timing was out of his hands.

“I do not have any input into this process”, he said.

Over the din of interjecting members across the aisle he said it was rightly in the hands of the SAT.

by DAVID BELL

BAYSWATER council has started rolling out  a policy which mandates its 10 biggest playgrounds must be user-friendly for kids with disabilities.

This month the council installed a roller table at Bardon Park, which lets kids with mobility problems pull themselves along. But as deputy mayor Stephanie Coates’ kids discovered this week, it’s pretty cool for all kids, and they were quick to jump on and try it out as a “running machine”.

“The installation of a roller table within the nature playground at Bardon Park has made it possible for children of all physical abilities to play together,” Cr Coates says.

“I think it is vitally important that children with a disability remain included in activities so easily taken for granted, such as playing with friends.”

by DAVID BELL