Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi is to hold her position as chair of the council’s audit and risk committee.

Following the scandal surrounding her lack of disclosure of gifts and travel, the council had looked into replacing her with an independent member of the committee as a way of boosting transparency.

But the committee itself looked into the issue and decided the membership arrangements (three councillors and an independent) satisfied the guidelines, while there was concerns an independent chair mightn’t have enough local government experience to do the job properly.

The issue sparked a fiery debate at the council meeting this week, with councillors Reece Harley, Jemma Green, and James Limnios spoke against casting aside a transparency measure already accepted in 5 out of 7 capital cities.

“As an audit committee, we should have an independent member that’s chairing the committee,” Cr Harley said.

“If we want to be number one in WA…I believe that the City of Perth needs to look to other capital cities.”

Cr Green disagreed with the council’s governance manager Mark Ridgewell that independents mightn’t have the skills: “Perhaps with other committees experience is more valuable but with auditing it’s independence,” Cr Green said.

“We’re certainly not pursuing best practice with the way this motion is structured.”

Cr Limnios said the motion was “taking a step forward and two back” in terms of transparency.

Committee member Cr Janet Davidson, a staunch Scaffidi ally, was the lone voice in defence of the officer’s recommendation.

“It was discussed robustly and it was concurred by all there and the independent member,” Cr Davidson said.

“We have a very solid independent member in that committee already.”

Although the reformists dominated the debate, they lost out 5/3 in favour of the status quo.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

IF you’re getting Olympics withdrawals and need a quirky sport fix, the nation’s best croquet players are currently battling it out down at Forrest Park.

The sport’s been around for 150 years but the old-timey rules ensured it was played at a snail’s pace best suited to an English country garden, so in 2005 they were rejigged with a faster game known as golf croquet emerging.

Croquetwest says that’s led to clubs seeing a big increase in membership.

It’s also a rare sport of equality: There’s no men or women’s divisions, and young and old take the field together even in the highest level of competition, and here in Australia there are more women players at the club level than men.

The gold and silver medals are being contested through to Friday September 2 and there’s games all through until September 11 at Forrest Park (which also has a whole lot less muggings than Rio). There’s a program at http://www.croquet-australia.com.au but if you rock up any day you’re likely to see some action.

ARTIST Drew Straker’s got a new piece up in Grand Lane behind Barrack Street. He’s credited by street art website allthoseshapes.com as “probably the first” artist to use this neon glow technique, with white lines under the transparent colours, making his Barrack Street bulldog and kitty really pop.

STIRLING council has dropped an extra $10,000 into supporting cultural events.

At this week’s council meeting, councillors were feeling generous about supporting community-based events and bumped up the recommended funding for the Inglewood night markets, Osborne Park agricultural show, the Mt Lawley Christmas festival and the popular photography centenary.

“It was all about activation and supporting the community events…to assist them and to help them off the ground,” Cr David Lagan said.

Meanwhile, Stirling is so pleased its Summerset Arts Festival has been selected as a finalist for the Australian Event Awards it’s spending $5455 to send mayor Giovanni Italiano to the Sunshine Coast awards for two days.

The awards recognise events regardless of size or location, and a whole range of sporting, arts, charity, and tourism events are submitted for consideration each year.

Last year, best community event trophy was taken home by the Adelaide Writers’ Week.

Now in it’s eighth year, the Summerset festival draws 30,000-plus crowds to Stirling with music, comedy, theatre, circus, and art staged over 17 days.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

FOUR electricity substations have been nominated by Perth council to go onto the state’s heritage register.

Prompted by a request from the state heritage office, councillors voted unanimously to recommend the buildings’ inclusion.

Constructed as part of the first centralised electricity supply in Perth, the four substations are two-story red-brick buildings located on Wellingtont, Murray, Colin, and Stuart streets, the last being in Vincent.

All display aesthetic, historic, scientific and social value as documented by the SHO.

“The heritage value of these properties is quite clear…they are iconic, architecturally speaking,” said Cr Reece Harley, who is also a director of Heritage Perth.

“It’s proven that these power stations can be sensitively repurposed.”

In the same meeting, Cr Harley also spoke against demolishing 58 Thomas Street, even though the heritage listed building was seriously damaged in a fire earlier this year.

The lot was slated for demolition in order to make way for widening Thomas Street at the intersection with Hay Street.

Cr Judy McEvoy said widening the road would help traffic flow in the area.

“It’s a bottleneck in and out of the city there,” Cr McEvoy said.

“It is a bottleneck but cars are not the future of this city,” Cr Harley responded.

He also pointed out Perth typically doesn’t approve demolitions until there’s an approved development application, and expressed concern that without a clear timeframe for road widening, the empty land would turn into a sandy eyesore.

Council decided not to hold-off on the demolition, and the motion passed 6/2.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

JOE FRANCIS is definitely not 61. In reeling off the age of cabinet pollies last week we pegged him as a sexagenarian, but his media people inform us the ex-Navy man is actually 45.

In other corrections news, Vincent council’s minute takers have amended their most recent minutes which misnamed resident Melanie McInerney’s name. The early version of the minutes had her down as the less flattering “Ms McAnally”.