Perth Voice Interactive

INGLEWOOD restaurant owner Paul Zammit nearly lost his leg and was forced to close for a month following a mysterious infection.

Mr Zammit, who owns A Fish Called Inglewood, was rushed to hospital after experiencing chest pains.

“They ruled out a heart attack, but then my leg tripled in size and I started getting some swelling on my brain,” the 44-year-old says.

“I was on 11 different antibiotics, but they couldn’t get to the bottom of it, and at one point I was looking at losing my leg or plastic surgery.

“I ended up spending weeks in hospital and eventually the swelling started to go down, but they never diagnosed what caused it all.”

Mr Zammit says he’d visited a farm shortly before he was rushed to a hospital and thinks he may have been bitten by a spider.

“I had to close down because I employ staff with disabilities, who require extra supervision, and it cost me around $80,000 in lost revenue,” he sighs, sadly.

“But I kept people updated on Facebook, and the response I got when I reopened was phenomenal.

“Since reopening we have had a spike in trade, which helps pay for some of my medical bills.”

Mr Zammit opened his informal seafood restaurant nine months ago, around the same time Inglewood on Beaufort started to tszuj-up the suburb.

Inglewood now has a weekly food market, several funky murals and IOB is looking at setting up a community garden.

“I think the suburb is really taking off,” Mr Zammit says.

“We have some momentum and a great vibe up this end of Beaufort Street.

“I just got the all-clear from the doctor this week, so it’s all hands back on deck.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

RED TAPE and restrictions have probably killed the Leederville farmers’ market.

Vincent city council is insisting the organisers abide by three pages of rules and restrictions, which include, “the market shall not include stalls that sell coffee or hot drinks”.

That’s because the council doesn’t want the market taking business from Oxford Street traders.

The markets had already suffered a blow when the council decided to charge $20,000 a year to rent a carpark for the Sunday morning event (to cover cash lost from fees).

The markets had previously rented private space and organisers had hoped for some relief from teh council to enable more promotion and extra viability.

A bit glum

Operator Paul Ashbolt is a bit glum about how it’s all turning out and says the rent and the list of rules from the council were bad enough but the prohibition of coffee sales pretty much kills the whole thing stone dead.

“I can’t think of any other market in existence where a trading restriction of this sort is placed on it,” he told the Voice.

“Under these circumstances we will be withdrawing the application.”

Other rules stipulate the maximum number of stalls and prohibit buskers from using “inappropriate language, material, etc”.

Mayor John Carey says the rules are there so the markets “complement existing services”.

“In our mind it’s pointless to have a stall selling coffee there when we have so many incredible cafes here.

“That’s an approach we’re leading to in all our festivals and events: complement the existing businesses.”

Mr Carey says it’s hard to understand how a ban on hot drinks could scuttle what’s meant to be a farmers’ market.

The issue is set to be put to the vote at next week’s ordinary council meeting.

by DAVID BELL

THE local Lions club is looking at setting up an artisan market in Maylands.

The community group has been impressed by the success of the recently established art market at Barlee car park in Mt Lawley.

Those markets have been well attended and one “suitcaser” who paid $15 for his pitch sold $700 of paintings in one day.

Lions president Trish Beaman says the club is still looking at venues, but is interested in a monthly market beside the Hawkers Markets outside The Rise, or on the Eighth Avenue stretch between Railway Parade and Whatley Cres (the site of the Old Perth Road markets).

Barlee Street

“We envisage it to be similar to the Barlee Street art market,” she says.  “We need to cater for all ages and children are an important factor in community events, so having well supervised play areas would be great if viable. Lions would also like local musical talent to have some air time as well.

“We will work in conjunction with Bayswater city council and may seek funding for advertising. We will probably need more in kind support such as the availability of  toilet facilities, lighting, rubbish and skip bins, etc.”

Ms Beaman adds that having a variety of good quality merchandise would be key to the success of the artisan market.

Interested vendors should email trish.552@bigpond.com.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

BAYSWATER mayor Sylvan Albert wants his council to extend public consultation on its $25 million revamp of the Frank Drago reserve, following community backlash over a “flawed” consultation process.

The masterplan for the site was released Friday, giving the public just three days to submit and prepare deputations for the Monday night committee meeting.

“The masterplan did not address or respond to any of the concerns expressed by local residents and local sporting clubs,” says ratepayer Christina Araujo.

“Furthermore, it is particularly concerning to see statements such as the following included in the document: ‘All people who provided comment were very satisfied with being consulted in the development of the master plan and extremely impressed with the process deployed, and hope and except to be consulted again when the option are presented to council and released to the community.’

“This statement is simply not true and council has also yet to provide any response to the petition delivered.”

In May the council unveiled its draft masterplan for the site, but petitioners claim soccer, tennis, bowling and croquet clubs that share the reserve had unequal input.

Critics argued the football club was the big winner at the expense of the smaller clubs.

Cr Albert says council staff had been under time-pressure to deliver the latest version of the masterplan.

“We would have liked to have made the plan available sooner and despite the fact the document was still being proof-read, we put the plan up on the website on Friday at the same time the report was made available to councillors for the next committee meeting of council,” he says.

“The city had already advised via Facebook on Tuesday, August 11, that the plan would be available at the end of the week and on Friday we also put up a link from Facebook to the plan to make it easier for people to find.

“I am aware that there is community concern that the consultation process has been flawed.”

The masterplan includes a nature-themed play space, dedicated zones for dog walkers, and more parking.

In the event there is no consultation extension, the council is set to vote on the masterplan next week.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

“INTERESTING” is how Michael Sutherland has described a portrait of himself, submitted to the prestigious Archibald Prize.

“I don’t think there is much chance of me hanging it in my bedroom, it’s absolutely massive,” he quipped.

“Art is in the eye of the beholder.”

The Mt Lawley Liberal MP did several sittings for urban artist Michael Shime, who created an enormous portrait of the pollie using only cans of spray paint.

Shime took time off from his job as a baggage handler at Perth airport, to finish the 2X1.87m portrait in just one week.

“I was up to 3am most nights and was working like a mad man to meet the submission deadline,” he says.

“I used some chalk to add definition, but apart from that, the rest was was done with spray paints and all kinds of different nozzles.

“One trick is to put the cans of spray paint in the fridge for a while so it comes out slower and is easier to control.”

Shime says his great-grandfather, Peter Lynch, was a speaker in the federal parliament in the 1930s. “That was what sparked my interest in painting Michael,” he says. “Rather than do a cliched picture of him looking formal in the chamber, I wanted to capture him in a relaxed, end of night sort of mood.

“I think it’s my best portrait, and occupies that grey area between urban art and traditional portraiture.”

Shime, 46, is a veteran urban artist and his Perth murals, including the one of children under the Wellington bridge, were done long before they were embraced by local governments and became de rigueur.

“I’ve been at it for years and have definitely worked at my craft and improved,” he says.

Coincidentally, a portrait of Shime was added to the side of the Barlee car park by fellow urban artist Jerome Davenport.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE Perth Centre of Photography hosted its first show at the historic Lawton House, with eastern states photographer Mike Read winning the 2015 Iris Award.

The 1911 West Perth mansion and its sprawling grounds on Colin Street were a far cry from the handsome but modest spot they had on Aberdeen Street for three years.

Melbourne photographer Read’s work “A Break in Arguing Between Messi and Ronaldo” was based on the two most common questions he’s asked in Cisuara in Indonesia, a mountain village home to many asylum seekers. The first question is politics and policy changes but the second is always “Ronaldo or Messi?”.

by DAVID BELL

A BUNCH of proud Maylands locals wants to transform Margaret Reserve into a community bijou.

The small 1200sqm reserve has a playground, but locals want to widen its appeal so it can be used by all ages and members of the community.

Kennedy Street Collective member Deborah Chinnery says the park will soon be in high demand with $72 million apartments being built at the nearby old Ross’s Salvage Yard on Railway Parade.

“I would like to see yoga classes in the park, a community garden, and more benches for older people,” she says.

“The park should be a community asset—an active hub for locals in and around Kennedy Street.

“We’d also like to see the playground upgraded to a nature-based one.

“Basically, we want to activate this little reserve.”

In a bid to get it upgraded by council, KSC has created a “We Love Margaret Reserve” Facebook page.

The locals have received backing from Bayswater councillors Michelle Sutherland, and Chris Cornish who tabled the motion for edible gardens in reserves and on verges.

“I am pleased the local community have embraced the ‘edible garden’ concept and look forward to helping it become a reality at Margaret Reserve,” he says.

Council will consider giving the reserve a $25,000 upgrade at next week’s council meeting.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

HIGHGATE local Susan Gontaszewski has put her hand up to run for Vincent’s south ward at October’s election.

With Leederville Carnival organiser Jimmy Murphy already declaring and incumbent John Pintabona telling us he’ll run again, that means a three-horse race at least for the ward’s two seats.

Mayor John Carey backs Ms Gontaszewski and Mr Murphy.

He says he wasn’t aware Cr Pintabona (a serving copper, health consumer advocate and the only councillor to vote to keep former CEO John Giorgi) was running for south ward but nevertheless says he’d like to see Ms Gontaszewski get up, saying she’ll “bring a great vigour to council with detail analysis, and also thinking outside the box”.

Ms Gontaszewski, who’s not a member of any political party, works in public health policy in medicine regulation and reckons her skills figuring the pros and cons of policies and the effect they have on people will come in handy on council.

She says she’s enjoyed being on the Highgate primary P&C and the school board and now wants to run for council as a way to step up her community involvement.

She lives in her childhood home and plans to stay in the area long-term, so a big focus for her is making sure the town is good for littlies and older folk alike rather than just catering for the trendy nightlife demographic. She wants to see open spaces better set up, citing the way north ward’s had a nature playground installed at Braithwaite Park.

Ms Gontaszewski’s next-door neighbour Alannah MacTiernan—the federal Labor MP for Perth and former Vincent mayor—describes her as “an intelligent, competent, committed person, it’s fantastic we can get people like that to put their hand up, she doesn’t do anything half-arsed”.

We asked Mr Carey if he’d encouraged either candidate to put their hand up: he said he’d suggested Mr Murphy toss his hat in after seeing his work on the carnival, but he’d heard about Ms Gontaszewski running before he got in touch.

by DAVID BELL