Perth Voice Interactive

THE ballots are merely trickling in at Vincent with a smidgen over 23 per cent of people having voted as of Wednesday October 14.

In a mayoral election the turnout rate usually hovers between 30 and 35 per cent but it’s unlikely to get that high come polling night, since most people post their ballots early.

In neighbouring Perth the ballot boxes are also feeling light, despite lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi spending plenty of time in the media over her travel declarations.

It’s running about five per cent behind previous years’ turnouts which saw up to 48 per cent cast a vote.

Stirling’s also struggling to meet last year’s turnout, with a bit under 25 per cent bothering to tick boxes and stick ballots back in the post.

Bayswater’s numbers are doing alright compared to the last election, hovering in the mid-20s (admittedly not a high bar). Maylands has had the most voter activity, with the south ward hotly contested between incumbent Sylvan Albert and challenger Catherine Ehrhardt.

Vincent mayor John Carey, disappointed with the low turnout, has been trying to drum up voters on Facebook this week.

He says elections shouldn’t be held during school holidays as people are away and when they get back often just toss all their accumulated junk mail in the bin — including posted-out ballot papers.

“We want people to vote, it’s critical for democracy,” he says.

Late ballots

Despite Vincent paying the WA electoral commission an optional fast-post fee, the ballots once again arrived late and Mr Carey says that plays a part in dampening voter participation.

Deputy electoral commissioner Chris Avent says changing the election period requires a change of state law. The WAEC must adhere to the legislated third Saturday in October as polling day. He says sending 1.4 million election packages can take time and the WAEC prioritises regional areas as they need longer to get their ballots back in time.

Mr Carey says candidates must cop some of the blame, saying many aren’t doing enough to personally engage.

“The idea that you just slap some posters up and that’s it, I find incredibly disrespectful to voters,” the enthusiastic door-knocker says.

“What you find is if more candidates are out campaigning and doorknocking then more people vote because you’ve got more engagement in the community.”

Debbie Saunders, who’s running against Mr Carey, told the Voice early in the piece she didn’t plan to doorknock because she didn’t want to bother folk at home.

But Mr Carey says people never seem annoyed when he drops by. “I doorknock outside elections, I do a street a week anyway as mayor… rarely do I have anyone complain when I ask what would they like done in local government. Rarely do you get a complaint, people do want to tell you their views.”

By the time the Voice is out it’ll be too late to post in your ballot so the only way to vote now is to show up on election day between 8am and 6pm (and if the dog ate your ballot you can be issued a new one).

by DAVID BELL

WORK has started on a $340,000 puffin crossing on Guildford Road, following years of complaints from locals that school children are unable to cross the road safely.

A puffin crossing has lights that turn green for motorists only when infrared detects no pedestrians are on the crossing.

Guildford Road is so dangerous that several parents stopped walking their kids to Bayswater and St Columba’s primary schools and drove the short distance instead.

The Barnett government has contributed $200,000, and Bayswater council $140,000, to the crossing between Leake and Robert Streets.

“It is a great win for the local community who have been fighting for this for a long time,” says Cr Stepahnie Coates, who’d lobbied for the crossing.

“Thanks must go to the local school P&C presidents at the time — Steph Bailey, Tara Savage and Andrew Mack, and also to mayor Sylvan Albert for his role in liaising with the state government.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

BAYSWATER council should stop having meetings and making resolutions during election periods, says a Mount Lawley resident.

Adam Parsonage says the council should follow the leads of Perth, Vincent and Stirling councils which all go into “caretaker” mode during council election periods.

He says a caretaker period would stop councillors tabling eleventh hour motions to promote themselves, and prevent decisions being made by councils that could be radically changed.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

WITH Australia rivalling the US in childhood obesity rates, a free program is kicking off at Maylands’ The Rise centre for kids seven to 13 who are above healthy weights.

The WA health department-funded Better Health program runs across 10 weeks and aims to help kids make informed food choices rather than just sticking them on a diet, teaching them how to read labels and find good food (along with loads of running about).

One-quarter of Australian kids are now overweight or obese while US figures hover around 33 per cent depending on age group.

Hayley Robertson runs the WA Better Health program and says so far more than 300 Perth kids have gone through it and post-program check ups shows they continue to do well.

The program is evidence-based and UK-based studies show continuing good outcomes after the course. A 12-month followup showed ongoing weight and waist circumference reduction, more physical activity, better eating and better self-esteem.

It runs Monday and Wednesday afternoons from October 19 and if you want to get on board go to http://www.betterhealthprogram.org or call 1300 822 953. Kids need a parent or guardian to go along and the sessions are split into one hour of joint learning, and then a second hour where parents get schooled on things like nutrition, bullying and fussy eating while the kids run and play games.

by DAVID BELL

STIRLING city council is seeking legal advice on whether it can overturn approval for Perth College to bulldoze four homes in the city’s heritage protection zone.

The elected council recommended unanimous rejection of the demolition application but the decision was in the hands of the Barnett government-appointed local development assessments panel, which gave it the green light.

The prestigious college aims to bowl over the four Lawley Crescent homes to build a multi-million dollar centre for senior students.

“I have been approached by members of the local community and the Mount Lawley Society who want to know what we are going to do about this,” says Cr Rod Willox, who won support for seeking legal advice.

“I believe that there is some ground for a challenge based on the DAP basing its decision on a consultant’s heritage report.

“At the end of the day, we voted unanimously against the demolition, a lot of the community don’t want it, but the DAP has ignored our concerns.”

Mount Lawley Society member Paul Collins says the demolition is contrary to the character retention guidelines for Mt Lawley, Menora and Inglewood.

“I welcome council’s move to seek a legal opinion,” he says.

“I have been concerned for some time about the DAPs meeting, their administrative law obligations, and in this case there were a number of errors and omissions in the heritage report which the Mount Lawley Society pointed out to DAP so the legal opinion will be very interesting.”

At the time of the council’s rejection recommendation, Perth College principal Jenny Ethell said the college had tried, where possible, to re-purpose heritage buildings and had previously refurbished two on Queens Crescent.

“The properties are zoned for educational purposes but do not meet the standards for universal access for people with disabilities, nor are they of the appropriate structural integrity to enable being included in a new development,” she had said.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

VINCENT city council is set to crack down on builders who make a mess of footpaths.

With new developments springing up like weeds, mayor John Carey says he’s fielding more and more complaints about untidy streetfronts during construction, including rubble being strewn on verges.

The council currently charges developers $2000 (for a single house) as a bond, that does not get refunded if a place is left messy or the verge is left damaged when the development is finished: but that doesn’t stop sites from being unsightly in the meantime.

“There just seems to be a disregard for the local streets they’re being built on,” Mr Carey says.

“Whether it’s soil and rubble strewn across the footpath and onto the road or damage to footpaths and kerbs, there are actually safety issues here.

“We do require a bond, but I am asking council to investigate any other more stringent actions we can take.”

The issue will be debated at the next council meeting.

by DAVID BELL

ELECTION campaign signs supporting Bayswater mayor Sylvan Albert are springing up on realtor and developer sites across Maylands.

Cr Albert has advertising on:

• a Harcourts vacant lot at the corner of Kelvin and Susan Streets;

• at the home of Acton director Paul Owen; and,

• on a lot at the corner of Guildford Road and Charles Street, where Ionic wants to build a mixed-use development of 18 homes and 10 offices.

The Ionic development has been back and forward between the council and the local development assessment panel, with council officers due to report to the DAP by November 19.

Cr Albert, who is seeking re-election to south ward, says he doesn’t know who Ionic is and didn’t know who’d put his sign on the lot.

“I know the people next door at the plumbing business, but I was unaware of the sign being put there,” he says.

“But if the Ionic development comes before council I will look into whether I need to declare some sort of interest.

“At the end of the day, these people are all residents, and if they want to support me that’s fine, it doesn’t really matter what profession they have.”

Harcourts director John Caputo says he owns the Kelvin Street lot and had granted Cr Albert permission to advertise there.

“Sylvan understands business, is a family man and has been very pro-active in taking Maylands forward,” he says.

“I think he’s the best candidate.”

Cr Albert, a Liberal party candidate at the last state election, says his signs have been regularly defaced and he has contacted police.

His rival Catherine Ehrhardt, a well-known local markets organiser, says she has not advertised on any vacant lots or development sites.

“The majority of my election advertising has been on businesses on Eighth Avenue, including This Fine Day and Leo’s Pizza,” she says.

“But I don’t have a big budget and only have around 20 signs. I have put a lot of cards on the counters of shops and businesses instead.”

Meanwhile, the Water Corporation removed one of Cr Albert’s signs from outside its Stone Street wastewater station.

“Water Corporation does not allow unauthorised signage to be placed on its land,” manager Mike Andrews says.

Cr Albert says he hadn’t put a sign there and was unaware it had been removed.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

AFTER much talk over the years it’s taken just a few months for the team behind Museum of Perth to get the doors open to the public this weekend.

The not-for-profit museum has a focus on the city itself, chronicling the social, cultural, political and architectural history of Perth from times of early Aboriginal occupation. With a team of volunteers researching content for upcoming exhibitions, this week they’re installing the first chronological history panels, written by local author David Whish-Wilson and with images from the WA library collection.

Its first themed exhibition will be open for Perth Heritage Days, uncovering Barrack Street’s past (the museum site itself is steeped in history.

It used to be home to the WA League of Wheelmen who fought for cyclist rights, and it’s co-tenanted with a cafe Henry Saw named for the first man to roast coffee in Perth).

The second exhibition will be the 25 year history of Pride, featuring posters from each year and documents by the Gay and Lesbian Archive of WA in time for Pride Week.

The first opening is Saturday October 17, 9am to 3pm, entry by donation to the museum.

by DAVID BELL

THE psychological issues faced by children of same-sex parents is being “hidden and marginalised” in WA, says a Perth counsellor.

Katrina Alilovic (left) returned to Australia three years ago, having worked as a counsellor in the UK for 10 years, and says Britain is more open in its approach to same-sex parenting and multiculturalism.

“The subject has a much higher profile in the UK and I think that’s down to the fact that it’s more diverse and multicultural,” the Mt Lawley counselling psychologist says.

“In Perth it seems to be somewhat hidden and marginalised and maybe that’s because we are a bit more conservative and lacking in diversity.”

Ms Alilovic wants to increase the awareness of same-sex parenting in WA by hosting a screening of Gayby Baby, a documentary that explores the difficulties that four Australian children with same-sex parents face in their day-to-day life.

To secure an October 28 screening at Hoyts in Garden City, Ms Alilovic must secure 65 tickets. If successful, she will donate the five per cent in takings she receives back to the documentary makers.

To book visit http://www.tugg.com/events/56164.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

VISITORS to parliament house this weekend will find the foyer packed with protests from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Karrakatta Club, lobbying Sir John Forrest for the vote.

For this year’s Heritage Days the theme is “People Who Shaped Perth” and women’s suffrage pioneers take centre stage.

Actor Caroline McKenzie is playing Edith Cowan, the first woman elected to the WA parliament in 1921. McKenzie, a relative of Cowan’s, and Sophia Forrest — a descendent of the premier — will act in a dramatised debate over women’s rights, recreating fierce discussions between prominent families and community leaders of the day.

The issue of women in parliament isn’t consigned to the dust of history either: today just 27 women are in a parliament of 95. Parliament House is open 10am to 4pm this weekend. To find out all the times for the history events at http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au, and there’s plenty of other stuff going on for the Heritage Days weekend with the program up at heritageperth.com.au

by DAVID BELL