Perth Voice Interactive

IT’S been nearly four months and TV reception at the WA housing department-owned Ray Healy Towers is still on the fritz, leaving some elderly residents with nothing to watch over the Christmas break.

Residents have now missed months of news, the footy grand final, the rugby, the Melbourne cup, the Christmas pageant and the Dr Who Christmas episode. Mercifully, they also got to miss the ABC’s disastrously cringeworthy new year’s eve coverage.

The housing department is supposed to fix “routine” maintenance issues within 28 days and when we prodded it in November, senior manager Greg Cash told us a new antenna and booster would be installed “in the coming days”.

But with problems still popping up and the picture as snowy as Santa’s beard, a resident told us the department is now blaming interference from someone using a CB radio.

However, that bloke has been away for a week and the picture’s still garbage.

The department’s Peter Londsdale says a new antenna and cabling has gone in, “however this does not appear to have completely rectified the TV reception issue for a few tenants”.

He says the department will keep hacking away at it, getting in touch with residents to figure out their specific telly problems so they can figure how to fix it.

When we first reported this eight weeks ago, one tenant told the Voice: “It’s a waste of time complaining, because they do nothing.”

by DAVID BELL

“OH là là,” were, apparently, Cathrine Summer’s first words.

It was the 1980s and English baby Cathrine, now in her 30s, had cried out to her mother during what would be a three-year residency in France.

Decades later and following migration from England to Australia nine years ago, she still has French on her mind.

The Osborne Park woman will sing in the language of love and bring a bit of Paris — all that jazz — to Maylands as part of Fringe World Festival, which starts January 22.

The jazz singer says those first three years of her life in Paris had a profound influence on her music and culture.

“I grew up loving all things French,” she says.

“I loved the music in movies, and back then songs became famous following the release of films. Now it’s the other way around.

“My family have a working-class background, and my parents have been together for 40-odd years — or whatever sapphire is — and France completely shaped their entire culture. They were lit up by the experience, and I want to bring some of that to Perth in my shows.”

Summer’s international repertoire includes songs by Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich and Cole Porter.

Joining her on stage will be burlesque and cabaret dancers, some of whom have performed globally and at Moulin Rouge.

The French-themed show, A Summers Night in Paris ($35), debuts at Maylands’ “boutique” exhibition space, The Parrott House, at 4 Sussex Street, from 6pm, Sunday, January 31.

Shows continue February 11, 12 and 13 — in the lead up to Valentine’s Day.

Summers’ other performances are at Midlandia and at Perth’s Lamont’s Bishops House.

The Midlandia show is inspired by the grandeur of The Great Gatsby, and Lamont’s event, Summer Groove Sundowner, will be a “pop-up vintage bar” on various Wednesdays during the month-long festival.

For more information on shows or to buy tickets, visit fringeworld.com.au.

by EMMIE DOWLING

A NEW residents’ group is pushing for Bayswater council to hold the line against opponents of its plans for a five-storey city centre.

Future Bayswater formed after groups such as Keith Clements’ Bayswater Deserves Better started pushing for the council to put a three-storey cap in a structure plan for the precinct that it’s currently developing.

Future Bayswater member Paul Shanahan says developers may walk if the city isn’t bold enough to embrace high-rise.

He’s talked with “several” friends in the building business and has formed the view three storeys is unviable. The “sweet point” is five, he says.

“We’re concerned if this motion got through, a lack of development would occur,” the former council candidate says.

“The townsite, in my opinion, has struggled and a three-storey limit may not help it recover.

“There are about eight of us who have started this, and more support us.”

Mr Shanahan notes Future Bayswater supports heritage retention — as long as it has merit.

He supported Yolk Property Group’s proposal for a seven-storey development at 9-11 King William Road, which was knocked back by the metro central development assessment panel.

The proposal would have meant the demolition of two century-old heritage buildings, leaving only a single facade.

“I would question the real heritage value of the site,” he says. “I would say the proposal was fine, to be honest, and I know others would disagree. But in no way do I think it should be open slather.”

Dozens of locals fought Yolk’s proposal, including Mr Clements, who says anything taller than three storeys is out of kilter.

At a public meeting with the council last month, he showed a crowd of 82 people an animated video of what the town could look like with three-storey limits.

“There’s been a bit of debate about whether it should be five storeys or not and it’s all just a commercial money grab, really,” Mr Clements says.

Michael Little, from Embleton’s Built Ink construction and design team, begs to differ.

“Yes, three storeys might be OK in the long term, but I wouldn’t predict any real profits in the first decade,” Mr Little says.

“Seven to eight storeys would definitely be too much for that area because of the amount of land and parking required for a building of that size.”

Yolk director Pete Adams told the Voice he’s in mediation with the metro central joint development assessment panel in an attempt to tease out issues.

“We have spent the last couple of months meeting and listening to stakeholders and the community in regards to thoughts on the … precinct,” Mr Adams says.

“The local and stakeholder views are very diverse on the development of [it], ranging from zero development to a huge groundswell of local residents who are keen to see the town centre revitalised with shops, cafes and the density to support this vibrancy.”

He denied rumours the company is appealing to the state administrative tribunal to try to get the seven storeys pushed through.

Any changes to Yolk’s plans will go through Bayswater council and the WA planning panel for approval. He did not say when that was likely to happen.

The structure plan is likely to take 12 – 18 months to complete.

by EMMIE DOWLING

INSTALLING more streetlights and better connecting rail, bike and pedestrian ways have been suggested as part of Bayswater council’s plan to improve safety.

More than 160 locals identified their biggest safety concerns — theft, public illicit drug dealing or use, and drunken and disorderly behaviour — and offered suggestions for improvement. It comes as the council moves to make the city safer by creating a “community safety and crime prevention plan”.

It last month published survey results finding residents also want more affordable community events and youth activities, as well as more police patrols to feel safer.

Data also found 42 per cent of respondents believe criminal activity and anti-social behaviour have become more of an issue “over time”.

“Factors having the most positive impact on respondents’ feelings of safety are good maintenance of public areas … availability of patrols of the city’s security services and murals or other public art,” a council report states.

Mayor Barry McKenna says the survey was routine. “This is one of these surveys that we put out to improve general liveability.”. He is unsure when the plan will be discussed at a council meeting.

About 70 per cent of respondents were female, 30 were male, and the biggest grouping was aged 34-44 (32 per cent).

Participants were a mix of residents (81 per cent), business owners (5 per cent), students (4 per cent) and visitors (3 per cent).

by EMMIE DOWLING

A GRINCH was operating in Shakespeare Street over the holidays, stealing Christmassy signs that pro-bike boulevard folk had hung on their verge trees.

Mount Hawthorn locals who want to see a bike-friendly boulevard installed as part of a transport department trial had hung signs saying “all I want for Christmas is a bike boulevard” in their verge trees.

The hoped-for boulevard is intended to slow down traffic and give big wide spaces for bikes to ride along, with cars coming second.

Many locals had been excited campaigning for somewhere for their kids to cycle safely, with 30 households joining the Bikes on Shakespeare Action Group to decorate their trees.

But not everyone is keen on change, with some concerned about slowing traffic in the street or people getting stuck behind the once-a-week rubbish bin in the now-narrowed car bit.

Reader Gail Neindorf reports that over the break someone had gone along the street nicking the signs, “obviously someone that is opposing the initiative,” she says.

“This is pretty poor when children are involved in putting them up and distributing them, to find out someone is removing or stealing the signs.”

She did spot one person swiping signs and confronted the man, who claimed he was allowed to since it was on the verge. She’s now replaced the signs with heavy fishing line to make them harder to yank free.

The next step for the bike boulevard is a walk through with WA transport department boffins on February 4 at 5.30pm to chat to locals about where it’ll go and how it’ll work, before a final decision is made.

by DAVID BELL

MAYLANDS music institution Plastic Passion has lifted the needle for the last time.

The Eighth Avenue record store — which specialised in original, rare and unusual vinyl and CDs — shut up shop new year’s eve, bringing down the curtain on 30 years of continuous trade.

Owner Stuart Penney took to Facebook with parting words.

“A big thank you to our regular customers who have stayed loyal over the years. We couldn’t have done it without you,” his post reads.

Record fair

“We’ll continue to sell great vinyl online from our website of course and hope to see you at the occasional record fair around Perth.”

Alex Malkovic, who opened record store and arts hub Highgate Continental on Beaufort Street late last year, says the closure doesn’t signify the end for vinyl in Perth.

He says his business is going “really well” and attributes success to offering more than retro.  “The point of difference for us is what’s being stocked. A lot of our customers are music makers, buying new music and interesting stuff from around the world.”

He says another local records shop with a “point of difference” is Safari’s Record Shack in Northbridge.

by EMMIE DOWLING

COUNCILS should have the power to force developers to be more mindful of neighbours, a Stirling councillor says.

Cr Karen Caddy says Stirling has historically had its hands tied when residents complain about a lack of privacy and impacts on the look and feel of their properties caused by nearby construction.

She has the support of her colleagues, and last month they decided to write to the WA local government association about the issue.

The letter will address the uncertainty around what actions the council can take to “control the amenity impacts on neighbours”.

A report, tabled last month, states: “concern has been raised that certain infill developments are adversely affecting the privacy of residents within the city, both during and post construction.

“The current planning framework provides no ability to control visual privacy implications during the construction phase of development.”

Staff have received complaints about privacy, with tradies overlooking nearby properties during construction.

The report concedes complaints are “infrequent” and have “not been quantified”.

Council staff plan on consulting with their Perth counterparts and “if necessary”, the WA government.

The aim is to allow for an increase in housing density, while managing impacts on existing buildings and streetscapes.

by EMMIE DOWLING