Perth Voice Interactive

NORTHBRIDGE traders say they’ll lose business, and some may need to close or relocate, because of a proposed bus layover.

Paul Farinosi, who owns the Mitre 10 on James Street, isn’t happy 1200 buses are expected to use the road once a bus bridge and layover is built nearby.

Buses would use the bridge and layover, planned for a pocket just south of the Graham Farmer Freeway, to get to the $209 million busport being built just off Roe Street.

Mr Farinosi fears unprecedented congestion will block access to his 70-year-old store’s driveway.

“If that happens, I can kiss my business goodbye,” he says.

He is also cross because his customers face three more sets of traffic lights once James Street is closed to Mitchell Freeway traffic. The alternate freeway exit would be Roe Street.

At the very least he wants a “keep clear” section across the bus lane so customers can easily cross traffic to get to him. He’s given up hope on altering the plans themselves.

“If I was a bigger business, I’d be able to tell the government what to do,” he says. “But there’s not much a business like mine can do to stop these things from happening.”

On John Street, the landowner of the warehouse occupied by Vernon & Hanna Autobody Centre, has received a letter from WA Main Roads about a land acquisition.

Bruno Lehembre, manager at the nearby Rockface climbing centre, says there’ll be less parking in the area. He says the owners have just decided to turn the building next door into a yoga and fitness centre and are expecting more customers.

The $5.5 million required to purchase land at the site, just south of the Graham Farmer Freeway, was first mentioned in budget papers last month, surprising businesses and landowners.

WA transport minister Dean Nalder insists the layover was always part of the busport plans.

Andrew Gaspar, from Mr Nalder’s office, says businesses may be able to claim compensation.

“It is up to Mr Faranosi, and other businesses who believe they have a case to make for compensation, to put forward that case which would then be considered on its merits,” he says.

Labor MP Rita Saffioti says Mr Nalder hasn’t done his homework and accuses him of failing to consult affected parties.

EXERCISE is now banned on the Bellevue Terrace strip of grass at Kings Park because nearby residents are complaining about noise.

“ATTENTION, in the interests of neighbours NO fitness/sporting activity is permitted on Bellevue Tce Lawn,” the Kings Park Botanic Gardens and Park Authority warns. “Please use the approved lawn areas for these activities.”

Muso Paul Stone happened to be there when the signs went in.

He took to Facebook to say “I stopped at Kings Park to relax/meditate on the grass under the trees a bit. I then started some stretching (qui gong style), five minutes later this ranger came and put up this no fitness allowed’ sign about 15m away from my spot, haha.

“I guess I can still get away with walking and sitting but stretching was taking it way too far!”

While the sign gave him a chuckle and he dubbed it a “classic Perth moment,” the message is most likely aimed at fitness groups, known to make so much early morning noise they sound like boot camp cadets in Full Metal Jacket.

Signs are also warning motorists who park at Kings Park and then use Jacob’s Ladder that they face being fined, because the ladder isn’t actually in the park and you have to be using the park to park there.

by DAVID BELL

PIPE-SMOKING English gents, a leather-clad Mexican siren puffing on a cigar suspended on a single strap high overhead, and wearing not a lot. Welcome to La Soiree, where everything is challenged — even WA’s stringent anti-smoking laws.

It’s vaudeville with a thoroughly modern take, a series of acts at a head-turning speed that kept the audience energy at maximum revs.

Hot bods and mind-defying feats are all part of the fun as the troupe returns to Perth fresh from triumphs in Europe, and a sold-out London season — where they took out the Olivier Awards for the Best Entertainment, and Family Award.

Having enjoyed La Soiree last year I’m not sure about the family bit as there’s quite a bit of frisky frolics; this year’s was a little more sedate, but only a little.

Strongmen The English Gents’ (Denis Lock and Hamish McCann) tossed each other around with ease, at times supported by a single hand (that’s one, not one each) on terra firma.

And when they ripped off pin-striped suits to reveal British flag budgie smugglers–and a corrugation of pure muscle the crowd roared (well, the women and gay men anyway).

Mario, Queen of the Circus, a leathered Freddie Mercury-wannabe, had the audience belting out a rendition of We Are the Champions worthy of any soccer match, and his juggling defied gravity as four balls seemed to hover above his hands.

Watching Captain Frodo contort his wiry body, his joints like indian rubbe, still had me squirming, despite having seen the act last year.

Mooky is a new face: the vaudevillian clown had the audience in stitches — except for the poor bloke she dragged to the stage.

Set in the gorgeous La Soiree spiegeltent, near the Alexander library, the two-hour show is pure entertainment, and, as team captain producer Brett Haylock says, “leave your troubles at the door and prepare for a night of thrills, shocks, laughter and disbelief”.

La Soiree runs until March 6.

Tix at fringeworld.com.au

by JENNY D’ANGER

PERTH lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi has told the Voice to stop talking to her and has instructed us to put all questions to Perth city council’s public relations unit.

Until last year the lord mayor had been happy to answer queries directly, responding quickly and often with a distinct personal flair that provided readers with an insight into her unique take on city issues.

Neighbouring Vincent mayor John Carey and Bayswater’s Barry McKenna remain happy to chat directly but Stirling’s Giovanni Italiano has also put up the shutters.

Both Ms Scaffidi and Cr Italiano have featured in Voice stories they consider to be unflattering and/or unfair.

The Voice’s reports last year on the decrepit state of the Grand Central Backpackers, a building owned by Ms Scaffidi and her husband, resulted in the lord mayor refusing to comment and the council’s PR unit fielding our queries, despite the issue having nothing to do with her lord mayoral duties.

Then the news about the corruption and crime commission report broke: Ms Scaffidi was found to have engaged in serious misconduct over her receipt and failure to declare significant travel and hospitality gifts.

Last week the Voice asked Ms Scaffidi about a building site in neighbouring Vincent that she and her husband co-own, which is the subject of daily fines over mounds of rubbish.

“I think you need to get correct facts ahead of your constant guesswork,” she emailed, without providing said “correct facts”.

“Please only contact me on City of Perth matter via our comms staff and note no comment from me on this issue.”

Ms Scaffidi is paid around $175,000 (including allowances) a year while Cr Italiano gets around $100,000.

by DAVID BELL

THIS toilet block may just be Bayswater’s next tourist attraction.

Well, that’s what the Friends of Claughton Reserve community group hopes will come of a $64,000 art project.

The group has convinced Bayswater council to dump a plan to demolish the reserve’s “run-down” toilet block and replace it with an automatic, self-cleaning loo at the cost of $130,000.

Instead, they’ll aim to be “innovative and artistic” by creating something similar to what can be found in New Zealand.

“Someone said to us, ‘you should Google New Zealand public toilets’, and we discovered these attractive toilets that had become part of the tourist circuit,” group president Kevin Mack says.

“We thought we could do something similar with ours so we approached the council and it put the money forward.”

Perth creatives, who are part of Artsource’s network of WA visual artists, have a month to work on detailed designs.

Mr Mack hopes the end product will “not just be a mural”.

“I would hope that they don’t just use it as a canvas, that they push the boundaries of what a toilet can be.”

Some group members are against self-cleaning loos because they “didn’t like going inside them” and concerns they aren’t very environmentally friendly.

One artist is a stonemason who’s thinking about using geometric motifs to make the drab, khaki building less crappy.

Mayor Barry McKenna says more projects like these may be rolled out across the city.

“As we renew older areas within our city, thinking outside of the box of what public facilities are, what they look like and how they function will be a priority in building a world class liveable city,” Cr McKenna says.

Any structural changes will be subject to council approval. The design team will include an architect.

Claughton Reserve is on the northern bank of the Swan River and is just east of the Tonkin Freeway.

by EMMIE DOWLING

A DRONE has been hovering over the house of Bayswater councillor Chris Cornish in recent days, convincing him of the need for the WA government to get serious about protecting privacy.

“We don’t like it when we hang around the pool,” he tells the Voice. “This thing’s been hanging around for three days solid”.

In one of his regular blog posts, Cr Cornish notes one of the year’s most popular Christmas gifts was a drone featuring a “14 megapixel fisheye camera” that can hook straight into YouTube and Facebook to share footage.

“To date I am not aware of any local, state or federal rules which prohibit or control the use of drones (for private use) over private property,” he says.

There are other serious issues to consider other than privacy, says Cr Cornish, such as scouting properties before burglary and stalking.

He concedes the issue is not on the council’s radar but says he will “try and get a local law to prohibit them over private property and spur the state government into action” if the issue is raised with him.

Drones are governed by the civil aviation safety authority, but that national body has no jurisdiction over privacy.

Its website states, “one thing you will not find in the list of advisory circular topics is the effect of remote piloted aircraft on privacy. Privacy and RPA is a real issue, but as the aviation safety regulator, CASA’s task is restricted to aviation safety.”

by DAVID BELL