Perth Voice Interactive

AN unusual request from a ratepayer has led to Vincent mayor John Carey pushing to get the city’s most isolated seniors back in touch with the community.

Earlier this year an elderly ratepayer called Mr Carey to air some concerns about security and asked him to come round. While he was there she put the agile young mayor to good use, getting him to move some outdoor furniture around and change a couple of light bulbs.

“This woman was contacting me quite regularly … I think in part to have a chat with someone and to have someone hear her story,” he says. Her family was over east so she always relished a chat.

Last week he found out she’d died, and that spurred him to start up a new council program linking local people with seniors who need company.

“We hadn’t heard from her in a few weeks; then we got notice via a staff member that she’d passed away. I felt it was incredibly sad we didn’t know she’d passed until three weeks afterwards,” Mr Carey said.

“It struck me — are we doing enough to reach out in our community?

“I know the Red Cross does incredible programs involving daily calling to check into seniors, and I’m not suggesting anything like that, but I thought is there another way we can create a casual interface … it might be two or three times a year, whether it’s an afternoon tea or dinner or introducing them to your family, just creating that connection.”

Once people adopted a senior it’d be up to both parties to work out where and how often they’d meet.

“We’re an incredibly caring community, but in these busy times people can be overlooked.”

He’s planning to put a motion to council asking the city to fund police checks (about $30 for volunteers) and work out the best way to put older people in touch with families who have a spare spot at the Sunday dinner table.

Since posting the idea on Facebook he’s had a lot of feedback from people saying they’d be keen to get on board.

Jude Gauntlett hooked up with a local professor as part of Naples’ Guardians program during a recent extended stay in Italy and said it was a fantastic experience. He’d got the English lessons he’d been after, and she got access to a side of the community she’d have never experienced otherwise.

She says Mr Carey’s program is a great idea.

by DAVID BELL

CLEARING at a privately owned wetlands near Eric Singleton bird sanctuary has been halted for now.

Planning minister Donna Faragher stepped in to stop any further clearing of native bushland late last week after visiting the site and meeting with locals and Maylands Labor MLA Lisa Baker.

Two blocks opposite the sanctuary are in line to be developed, one owned by the D’Orazio family which has largely been cleared and the other by the Carter family.

The WA planning commission granted approval for the D’Orazio block to be subdivided and says that paved the way for clearing to allow works such as geotechnical sampling.

But the scale of the clearing blindsided Bayswater council and about 2000 residents signed a petition calling for a halt to the project.

Following Ms Faragher’s intervention the sampling can continue, but more substantial works will require further approval.

Bayswater council had two opportunities to purchase the neighbouring Carter block, the first in 2010 when councillors unanimously voted against buying it. The sale wasn’t even raised for discussion.

In 2013 the Carters again offered it for sale.

Despite a new council line-up and a $3 million upgrade of the sanctuary looming, Bayswater staff declined the offer without putting it to councillors for a vote.

At this week’s council meeting Chris Cornish moved for all confidential documents relating to the land, including past decisions, correspondence with the owners and offers to sell, to be made public.

Town planner Greg Smith from the Bayswater Urban Tree Network says the council should’ve advised the WAPC to rezone the land as parks and recreation, preventing any housing developments.

Mr Smith says while he was working as East Fremantle council’s planner it was routine to ask the WAPC to rezone good quality land as it was cashed-up from the Metropolitan Region Improvement Tax. The MRIT was created to “finance the cost of providing land for roads, open spaces, parks and similar public facilities”.

“Why, in the past 10 or 20 years when council has been offered this land, why didn’t they recommend to the WAPC that the land be rezoned as parks and recreation?” Mr Smith asks.

Quality swamp

He says it’s clearly good quality swamp, and likely better than Eric Singleton which needed the $3 million to bring it back to health.

On Saturday community members brought in ecologists Mike and Mandy Bamford for a rapid assessment of the fauna on the remnant Carter site.

Partly relying on previous studies, the Bamfords found three additional frog species to the four already recorded as living there. One they discovered was the quacking frog Crinia georgiana, which is only found in a few wetlands around Perth.

Four reptile species also live in the lake, and while most are common, the Bamford report states long-necked tortoises are declining elsewhere because a lack of nesting sites and fox predation has disrupted their breeding.

They also spotted a splendid fairy-wren, which is not on the list of 105 species that Birdlife Australia records as being present. The swamp’s also had sightings of both Carnaby’s and forest red-tailed black cockatoos.

The only mammal is the fox, and the waters appear to be free of fish, while the neighbouring Eric Singleton water has the pesky introduced mosquito fish which snacks on frogs eggs.

by DAVID BELL

A HANDFUL of childcare centres operating on crown land are to have their state funding axed by the Barnett government in June 2018.

The department of communities is offloading responsibility for 33 not-for-profit childcare centres across WA, saying it no longer wants to cover $1.4 million of their rent, maintenance and insurance costs.

Mt Lawley Labor candidate Simon Millman has started a petition opposing the cuts, saying the costs will be passed on to families already experiencing high fees.

“WA has a childcare shortage, with long wait lists for many childcare centres. The government says it wants to encourage women into the workforce, yet this decision by the Liberal government will make the situation worse,” Mr Millman says.

Shelley Carlin, director of Marjorie Mann day care centre in Mt Lawley, says she’s not sure how the childcare centres will stay afloat.

“Affordability wise, the cost will have to go on to the parents and I don’t think that’s sustainable … it’s going to affect a lot of educators”, Ms Carlin says.

“There’s a lot of families that this is going to affect…the snowball effect of this is going to be astronomical.”

Community services minister Tony Simpson says the sector should have a level playing field, noting there’s 1104 privately-owned centres across the state who get no rent assistance.

“It is not appropriate for the state government, as the childcare regulator, to also own or lease property in which childcare services are offered. These changes will provide an equal playing field across all child care services,” Mr Simpson says. “My department is working closely with local governments, affected centres and the Department of Lands to identify alternative arrangements.”

Mr Simpson says he doubts any centres will close as a result of the changes.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

POETRY WEEK will have a raw edge in Perth this year as Karen Lowry traces her sexual abuse through poems streamed live on the WA Poets Inc Facebook page.

Abused by her grandfather aged 11 to 14 the poems reveal Lowry’s angst and depression, with some written at the time of the abuse and others written later which examine the toll.

Some explore the friendships made and faded and those that exploded under the pressure.

Despite the trauma, Lowry went on to gain a PhD and performs at major writing festival in London and Paris.

“Every achievement is cloaked in darkness, and these four hours are about that journey,” Lowry says.

“These are polished poems and raw poems, finished poems and single stanzas. These are life poems.”

You can follow Lowry’s journey with automatic notifications on Facebook.

The festival will be making big use of social media for updating punters on events and getting feedback. “Our hashtag is #PPS2016,” social media gun Scott-Patrick Mitchell says.

During the week-long festival there’ll be regular poetry posts on the big screen in Perth’s cultural centre.

Over at the art gallery eight poets will wax lyrical about eight artworks, including Gary De Piazzi, who can’t remember the name of the piece that inspired his words, but says it was a Kimberley landscape that reminded him of camping up north while posted as a teacher.

“Camping in a gorge, the only human being in 200 kilometres you felt insignificant,” De Piazzi says.

The festival kicks off Friday August 5–14.  Go to wapoets.net.au/perth-poetry-festival.

by JENNY D’ANGER

VINCENT council will boycott the WA local government association conference this week.

Mayor John Carey says he can’t justify spending ratepayer money for what he believes will turn into a self-congratulatory love-in.

At last year’s WALGA conference Mr Carey put up a range of motions aimed at increasing council transparency, but they were given short shrift by the majority of delegates, 172 – 46.

Despite the snub, some of his measures like online gift registers were imposed on Perth city council by the Barnett government as it attempted to tidy up after a crime and corruption investigation into lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi, which found she’d engaged in serious misconduct by not declaring travel and gifts.

This year attendees are being charged $1475 for the three-day conference in August, which includes a talk from Antarctic expedition leader Rachael Robertson on teamwork, discussions on local government’s role in tourism, a mayors’ reception hosted by Ms Scaffidi, and a “Beer O’Clock” at Northbridge Brewery. There is also a talk on “transparency and empowerment” that’s available as a choice of three concurrent sessions.

Status quo

Former Fremantle Docker Peter Bell will pass some words of wisdom, although his conference blurb features no mention of local government.

“WALGA protects the status quo,” says Mr Carey, adding his tux will stay in the wardrobe.

“It has failed consistency on accountability and transparency issues, and I don’t want to be wasting ratepayers’ money attending a conference that just pats itself on the back.”

Vincent council considered pulling out of WALGA altogether but stuck around so it could keep access councillor and staff training, and access to contractors.

But Mr Carey deeply disagrees with WALGA president Lynne Craigie’s assessment of the sector’s governance as “best practice”.

“My main beef with WALGA is it could be a powerful organisation for change in local government,” he says. “I am greatly disappointed in the current leadership and its failure to genuinely embrace reform for local government.”

by DAVID BELL

MALAYSIA’S president was gifted US$681 million by the Saudi royal family, New South Wales ex-premier Barry O’Farrell got a $3000 bottle of plonk, but out in Bayswater they’re gifting city officials cupcakes and baby booties.

Bayswater council now lists all gifts to councillors and staff online, and a glance over the humble offerings dash any pictures ratepayers had of their representatives living off grift.

The swishest item listed this year was tech services director Doug Pearson’s two tickets to the east metro regional council dinner, worth $286.

Apart from that there’s minor offerings like the lotto tickets, easter eggs and scratchies (total value, $15.50) that a grateful senior citizen gave to two staffers for their work under the Home and Care Community program which looks after older folk.

Another older lady chuffed with the help offered by city staff also gave baby booties and a one-piece baby suit to one of the HACC workers.

Cupcakes

Forget developers with suitcases stuffed with dollar bills; planning officer Helen Smith was given 12 cupcakes in gratitude from a person applying for a single louvre on their Maylands property.

Vincent’s register is similarly threadbare. Mayor John Carey, a known Star Wars tragic, declared that fellow councillor Emma Cole recently gifted him a Yoda figurine and the Yoda Book of Wisdom (estimated value: $20).

Stirling councillors and staff are getting “treated” to free tickets to fairly dry forums and grey seminars, though one colourful item included one of the city’s volunteer coordinators being gifted a “Djelba”, listed as traditional Jordanian dress.

Perth council has also been keeping its gift book pretty spick and span lately: The only entries in the last couple of months are from James Limnios.

He self-funded a trip to Nanjing, Perth’s sister city, and declared a scattering of gifts from the local Qixia district including a “large Yun Jin Brocade”.

We Googled it. It’s a silk fabric weaving, and the designs from Nanjing are known as some of the finest, and are said to be as beautiful and intricate as the clouds.

by DAVID BELL

VINCENT and Bayswater councils are in the throes of joining Perth to make recordings of meetings available online.

With council transparency a hot discussion leading up to WALGA’s annual conference, the Chook took a look at a few councils around the metro area.

Everyone in WA is entitled to attend open council meetings, but the ease of catching up on missed episodes depends on your local government area.

Generally, the further south you travel, the harder it is to get access to recordings.

Perth council has been uploading recordings of its meetings since May, in response to the controversy surrounding lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi not declaring travel and gifts, so listening to debate is never more than a few clicks away.

Vincent and Bayswater currently charge about $30 for people coming in to listen to the recordings.

Stirling doesn’t charge any fees to access recordings at its town hall.

Down south, Melville and Cockburn say they only record meetings for their minute-takers, and require freedom of information requests to access the audio; which can knock ratepayers back a $30 application fee on top of paying for a staffer to stand over their shoulder while they’re listening.

The Voice’s sister paper the Fremantle Herald was recently quoted $90 by Melville to have audio from one section of a council meeting copied onto a disk.

East Fremantle is even more behind the times, and doesn’t even take audio recordings of its meetings.

Cr Reece Harley was behind the push to have Perth council meetings put online, and says since anyone can attend council meetings, people who are far away or immobile should be able to listen in as well.

“To me it’s a basic tenet of democracy that people, the community, has access to the decision-making processes of local, state, and federal governments. At federal and state level the parliaments have Hansard, so any member of the public can read the entire proceedings of parliament.

“However at local government level, that is not the practice so the next best thing is to have audio recordings available,” says Cr Harley.

The City of Vincent is in the process of getting streamable audio online.

“I find it extraordinary that someone has to do an FOI to get a copy of the recording. That is a sad state of affairs in my opinion,” mayor John Carey says.

“I just think – what do you have to hide?”

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

THE Barnett government has unveiled plans for new WA Museum.

The $428.3 million project will see the construction of a new building which looms over the old museum, which has generated a lot of discussion amongst Voicelanders, with mixed feelings.

Architects Mark Loughnan from Hassell and David Gianotten from OMA say the building is designed to create spaces that promoted engagement and collaboration.

The pair say they tried to capture elements of WA’s natural landscape, unique history and diverse population.

The new museum will be almost four times bigger than the existing museum and will have almost 7000sqm of gallery space and a big new area to house large-scale temporary exhibitions.

It will also feature learning studios where visitors will get to see the behind-the-scenes work of museum staff, as well as retail and cafe spaces.

The new museum is expectedd to be opened in 2020.

DEVELOPER Yolk Property Group has asked Bayswater council to refund a $50,000 cash-in-lieu payment for a project approved in 2014.

The audacious claim was sparked by a change in state planning regulations last October which allows developers to ask for conditions previously applied to developments to be deleted.

Bayswater councillors knocked back Yolk’s request on Tuesday, with staff warning the refund could open the floodgates.

Yolk’s four-storey mixed-use building on Eighth Avenue in Maylands was approved by the council, but it made owner Ecolibrium Dorado pay $50,000 for a shortfall in parking bays.

Costs

Yolk argues the cash should be returned because of $35,000 in unexpected costs when the owner ceded part of a laneway to the council so a right of way could be widened. The land ceded was also worth more than $100,000 Yolk pointed out.

It also meant losing 10 more parking bays, so the developer installed a $170,000 car stacking system to compensate.

But staff say ceding the lane was clearly laid out in the original conditions, and warn this is a test case.

“This is the first application of its nature considered by the city under clause 77 post-construction of the approved development,” a report to council said.

“It would set an undesirable precedent for past and future developers to seek refunds from the city for accepted payments, post construction”.

The decision could be appealed to the state administrative tribunal.

by DAVID BELL