Perth Voice Interactive

IF 2013 was the year of bike lanes in Vincent, then the council’s 2016 budget marks the year for pedestrians.

It’s one of the most common requests from the public and three of the worst pedestrian crossings will be made safer; the intersections of William and Bulwer Streets, Loftus and Burke and Vincent and Fitzgerald.

But it’s a pricey process: “This is a huge investment,” mayor John Carey says.

“William and Bulwer alone is $200,000 … to put in a green pedestrian crossing we have to upgrade the infrastructure of the lights.”

He says the council really needs the state government to come to the table, as it’s already asked Main Roads to fix some of the intersections, but has been knocked back.

Main Roads

“We’re at constant battle with Main Roads. We sought funding, but it was rejected… with Main Roads you have to drag them kicking and screaming,” Mr Carey said about William/Bulwer intersection.

Vincent homeowners will face a 2.9 per cent rate rise this year, higher than the 1.6 per cent CPI, but the city still has a pretty low rate-in-the-dollar compared to other suburban governments (it’s about the fifth cheapest).

It’s not a sexy budget full of waterslides and rollercoasters.

“The budget does not have the big capital works like the Mary Street Piazza or Oxford Street Reserve or even the bike lanes that we’ve seen in previous years,” Mr Carey says.

But he says a more prudent “asset management reserve” will squirrel money away slowly so ratepayers aren’t hit with a sky-high rate increase if something big breaks down.

“Some people will look at the budget and say it’s boring, but I make no apologies for that,” Mr Carey says, saying it’s important they cover the basics and get their finances in order to smooth out bills over the years.

by DAVID BELL

FOR the first time Vincent council asked locals to have their say on the budget before anything was written in stone, and plenty took the opportunity to weigh in.

Most years only two or three enthusiastic council watchers make budget submissions, since it only goes out to advertising after being written up and post-draft changes are exceedingly rare.

This time a whopping 50-plus people came up with suggestions, many of them fronting a budget meeting for the first time to see how their pitch fared.

There were local mums with big ideas to a couple of toughs who surprised everyone with their passionate plea for pedestrian safety.

One idea the council took on board was from local mum Karen O’Sullivan. She clubbed together with other parents in her Leederville street to put together the “Rae Street, Play Street” plan.

There’s little space nearby where kids can play, so they want to trial closing the street for 1.5 hours a month to let the little tackers kick a ball or ride a scooter in safety. It’s also a chance to play with kids outside their usual school grade age and meet the neighbours.

After looking over the idea the council’s put aside $10,000 for the trial to help with traffic management and signs.

Safety

Some of the big items in the budget came directly from submissions, like the request for a $210,000 pedestrian safety crossing at William and Bulwer Streets.

There wasn’t cash for everything: A request for CCTV at North Perth town hall was knocked back since it’s not a crime hotspot, and an overpass from East Perth train station to East Parade was deemed too pricey due to the land purchase required.

BAYSWATER councillors have voted to paint a poisoned tree yellow to signify the cowardice of the tree-hater behind the attack.

The poisoner bored into the roots of a Queenland box tree near the corner of Guildford Road and Crowther Street.

“Enough is enough,” Bayswater mayor Barry McKenna says. “Tree vandalism is a criminal offence and a very serious matter.”

Bayswater already suffers from a piddly tree canopy over the suburbs and while they’re trying to fix it with a raft of initiatives, poisoners aren’t helping.

“The city of Bayswater doubled its funding for street trees this financial year from $200,000 to $400,000 as part of its commitment to increase the city’s canopy coverage,” Mr McKenna says.

”We cannot stand by and watch all of our hard work be destroyed.”

The usual council policy is to put up a 3m by 3m sign alerting people to the tree death, shaming the poisoner, and also confounding their attempts to get a view.

But the box tree is in an awkward spot for such a huge sign, meaning a smaller sign and the yellow paint.

A new tree will be planted and the council will inspect the dead one annually to make sure it’s not about to drop a branch on anyone.

by DAVID BELL

AN awards night for businesses and a street festival are in jeopardy after Bayswater council got caught out by a crackdown on accepting gifts.

For seven years Bayswater has been funding an awards night run by the Central Eastern Business Association, but along the way so many councillors have accepted tickets and now have to declare a conflict of interest there’s not enough left to vote on CEBA-related items.

It came to a head at the June council meeting where $15,000 for the awards night was left languishing because there wasn’t a quorum.

Councillors Dan Bull, Chris Cornish and Catherine Ehrhardt are members of CEBA (and Cr Cornish’s wife volunteers with them) and couldn’t vote at the June 21 meeting. Stephanie Coates had attended the awards, and with others away it meant the council couldn’t reach the 50 per cent quorum necessary to vote on the item.

Councillors can apply to local government minister Tony Simpson for an exemption, allowing them to vote, but at last week’s meeting it was clear no one had thought that through.

Crs Terry Kenyon and Alan Radford were back after leave, but both had attended dinners and couldn’t vote, so the item again lapsed.

The debacle has infuriated CEBA president Greg Pound who’s told the council the awards night and Morley street festival are on ice until the situation is resolved.

“For this situation to be repeated a second time [at July’s meeting] signals to the CEBA board that no effort has been made by the city to rectify this ludicrous situation,” Mr Pound said in a letter sent to Bayswater CEO Francesca Lefante and councillors last Wednesday.

The fate of the awards night will be decided at CEBA’s next board meeting.

by DAVID BELL

WHEN boxer Hayden Wright isn’t swinging punches, skipping, or cornering chickens à la Rocky Balboa, he’s helping kids achieve their dreams.

H-Bomb, as he’s known, has a fledgling boxing career that’s already earned him a heavyweight title and some headlines, but behind the scenes he’s spent four years as a social worker with Activ Foundation .

Wright helps disabled clients build self confidence by bringing them to train with him at the boxing gym.

Recently Wright helped to fulfil the dreams of one of his clients, 15 year old Matthew Brandish, who wanted to meet WA boxing legend Danny Green.

Wright sometimes trains with Green, so he arranged for Brandish to meet his hero after a session.

“I love working with kids with disabilities — my reward is the smile on their face,” says Mr Wright.

He’s currently training for his next fight on Friday (July 22) – a four-round eliminator for the state title against Zac Letufuga at Metro City.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM

A FIRE station nestled amidst houses at 27-33 Carr Street has been approved by the WA planning commission.

Neighbours who’ve been fighting the proposal labelled the decision ”arrogant”, but the fire and emergency services department says its vital and in the only appropriate location.

Of the 56 submissions, 45 were opposed, with residents siting traffic, noise and safety concerns.

A report from Vincent council staff backed resident, recommending the WAPC reject the plan.

The area is “already heavily congested” and “it is likely that the fire station will be unable to meet its service ability requirements during peak transport times”, the council report found.

The WAPC’s report dismissed the concerns one by one. Where residents were worried about toxic substances for on-site training, the report says: “The training foam used on-site is of a low toxicity and has minimal environmental impact. The compound within training foams are commensurate with the active ingredients found in laundry detergents and window cleaners”.

Mayor John Carey attended the WAPC hearing to speak against the station or to get a deferral, and was damning of the DFES.

“DFES didn’t take the community seriously,” he says. “I received an initial briefing from them, I said please engage the community up front and early before you make a planning submission. They didn’t … the gross arrogance of this department astounded me. They’ll be able to write a book, ‘101 on how not to do community consultation’.

Shameful

“They do not care. I think it’s shameful and they need a kick up the pants. The minister should have stepped in and deferred this.”

He says if a private developer came to council trying to get something approved based on a 10-year-old traffic plan they’d get told to come back with something more recent.

DFES assistant commissioner Darren Klemm says the department used the best available information and Main Roads traffic data suggests “growth has been minimal over the past 10 years”.

Despite that, he acknowledges the area’s population has boomed.

”DFES is aware of the increased population density in the area and this was one of the key reasons the new station was proposed… as the inner city grows, we know it is going to take longer to get from one side of the city to the other. Having a station in West Perth means these residents won’t be left exposed if an emergency happens near them.”

Mr Carey says “from even anecdotal evidence, it is farcical to suggest there has not been an increase in traffic in that area”.

Nearby neighbour Sara Zvaunis says the noise audit relied on by the WAPC ignored on-site training, which would be one of the noisiest aspects.

Even taking that out of the equation the onsite activity will exceed allowable noise levels by a notch with idling engines and mechanical doors. Several bedrooms from neighbouring apartments will be flush with the station that’ll be built up to the boundary line.

The department maintains the report covers training, but Mr Carey, his planning team and residents all disagree. The Voice has asked for a copy of the report.

Ms Zvuanis says they got a verbal agreement the department would consider a buffer, but she’s suspicious unless it’s put in writing.

“It’s all lip service … none of it’s hardwired to produce any results.”

by DAVID BELL

THE Bayswater Men’s Shed got in contact this week to let us know they’ve got a new website on the way and hence a new email to contact them: secretary@baysieshed.org.au.

Like the shed, the website’s still a work in progress, but if you want to catch the sheddies for a “social morning” head down to 21 King Street (we’d said Raymond Ave but that’s the rangers side of the building and the sheddies now have their own gate).

Secretary Harry Porrins reckons it’ll be about three to six months before they’ll have all the equipment for whacking together spice racks and the like.

FUTURE BAYSWATER will be bringing in planning experts to speak at a series of public forums designed to generate ideas for shaping the city into the future.

Made up of business owners and residents, the newish group’s main campaign so far has been pushing Bayswater council over a structure plan for the town centre and train station.

Viewpoints differ on whether the precinct should be developed or preserved as is.

Mixed developments

Future Bayswater wants a structure plan allowing mixed use developments to increase the residential population of the town, arguing that will give youngsters an affordable option to buy in.

It also wants a greener environment, and better public transport and pedestrian access in the hope of making Baysy a “go to” destination instead of the current “go through” situation.

Future Bayswater’s Paul Shanahan, a high school physics teacher, tells us they’re all still learning as they go and bringing in experts will mean they can have a more informed debate.

Australian Urban Design Research Centre planner and Bayswater local Julian Bolleter is first speaker, talking about how to do urban regeneration while protecting biodiversity, and down the road they’re also bringing in transport buff Peter Newman and leading architect and urban designer Malcolm Mackay who’s had a hand in a heap of Perth’s big projects.

The launch is Friday July 22 at the Bayswater Bowling and Recreation Club, 58 Murray Street at 6pm, and then the series will be held every Thursday at the Bayswater hotel, check http://www.futurebayswater.com for dates and speakers.

by DAVID BELL

TWENTY years of unenforceable fines are to be written off by Vincent council.

The 2,249 fines total $253,660.

Councils routinely write them off because they’re either unenforceable (the person’s dead or overseas) or it would cost more to enforce them than they’d ever get back.

Perth council clears its out every few months to keep the books clean but it turns out that’s never happened at Vincent, so the fines go back to the municipality’s creation in 1994.

The current admin found a proverbial shoebox full of tickets and realised there was no system in place to get them off the books. In a report to councillors staff acknowledge it “should have been previously undertaken” and say there’s now procedures in place.

“These administrative processes will prevent such a situation being repeated,” a report to council said.

The council still has to calculate how many non-recoverable infringements there are between 2010 and 2016.

While 2,249 scofflaws have got away with breaching the rules, over the same period 28,582 fines have been fully paid, for a total of $4.2 million.

by DAVID BELL

THE police organised crime squad have charged a man after raiding a Yokine house earlier this week.

Police allege they discovered eight rooms of the Flinders Road house converted into a hydroponic cannabis setup. They seized 160 plants, 62 cuttings and 10.5kg of cannabis head.