Perth Voice Interactive

CLUB legend Bobby Despotovski has been appointed head coach of Perth Glory Women.

Despotovski played 241 games for the club and remains its all-time leading scorer over a 10-year career: he was one of the most successful strikers in the now-defunct Australian National Soccer League. He managed Inglewood United in 2007 and was recently head coach of the Perth Glory under 20s in the PS4 National Premier League.

Despotovski says aside from winning silverware, he wants to promote the women’s game in WA.

“When I first played with the Glory we had to do many hours of marketing activities a week to promote the game, which included going out to schools and clubs. To get the league and women’s game to another level we need to get bigger crowds and attract more sponsorship.”

Tongue twisters
SOME recently published references to English language have suggested that it employs more obscenities than we find in any other tongue.
This is probably true enough, excepting that so many of our obsesnities either emerged from other languages or “proper” words in old history.
Certainly, the use of obscenities is widespread in today’s Australian language, which, incidentally, but at the same time, the volume of the language seems to have shrunk.
One modern publication put the average Australian vocabulary at something over 700 words, compared to the hundreds of thousands in the English language.
So what happened? Why the growing use of the ‘F’ and ‘C’ word, and others?
There is, if you’ll permit a pun of sorts, an awful lot shit about.
Michael Jardine
Mount Lawley

Open design
I THANK the mayor for responding to my letter regarding the secret meetings of Vincent council’s design advisory committee. However, there were key elements of my letter that he didn’t comment on (Voice Mail, June 20, 2015).
My main concern is meetings of the DAC and the other advisory committees are held behind closed doors—not even the minutes are available. Is this within the spirit of the WA local government act, which is to encourage openness and transparency, and community participation in local government decision-making?
The DAC has a significant role as it can make recommendations to council about whether variations to planning policies should be granted to developers. This may mean additional dwellings, greater height or increased plot ratio—potentially significant additional profit to the developer and negative impact on adjoining residents.
The secretive approach seems out of step with a council that claims to be committed to community consultation. That is, members of the community that are going to be affected by the development should be able to attend committee meetings to express their views about proposed and developments that might be occurring next door or in their street.
Anyone who understands the decision-making process will acknowledge participation in the early stage is where meaningful input can be made. In Vincent, members of the community can only make comment at the end of this process—there is little chance of changes being made to developer’s plans at this stage.
Other local governments with similar committees have decided they should be open to members of the public. If Vincent wants to be a leader in openness and transparency—as it was in the 1990s and 2000s—it should allow the public to attend all of its advisory committee meetings and place agendas and minutes on its website. If not, the city needs to explain why.
Andrew Main
Alfonso St, North Perth

Rallying cry
I AM a 50-year-old university-educated Australian and I attended last week’s Reclaim Australia rally. I did not intend to go but had accepted a lift to the Indonesian Family Christian church service in the morning and my mate wanted to go there afterwards.
In fact, I feel sorry for the “normal” Muslims in our society who are looked down upon because of the disgusting actions and pronouncements of ISIS and militant clerics here in Australia. So, my Indonesian wife and I were interested observers at the rally.
I was pleasantly surprised by the organised range of speeches and the attitude of the convenor of the rally. He encouraged everyone to ignore the noisy anti-racism group because they were just there to incite a confrontation. He said any person with racist sentiments or nazi tattoos was not welcome at the rally. And I learnt surprising information about the accepted violent behaviours of Muslims to women and girls in their home countries.
I was disappointed by the aggressive yelling, abuse and loud music from the anti-racist group who were just there to disrupt the rally and incite violence. One of their speakers even carried a huge MWU union flag and they chanted the union solidarity theme “we are united and will never be divided” even though the union movement had nothing to do with the rally.
Your article on the Reclaim Australia rally (Voice, July 25, 2015) stated there was a notable lack of indigenous Australians amongst the Reclaimers. That is incorrect. In fact an elder made an impromptu speech in support of the rally.
The police did a great job to keep the two groups of people apart. In a free Australia people are entitled to voice their opinion and inform others without being shouted down by others who don’t support the same opinion. If they want to voice their opinion in a rally they are welcome to do so and I for one will not go there to disrupt them.
Peter
Yokine

Harmonic on high
RESPECT for peaceful and private space should be legacy of everyone — that’s us. High-rise, high-density homes are recipe for tragedies. How many developers live thus? Into the complex where I abide will soon come four new sets of residents. Will these bring harmony or mayhem?
Heavy with foreboding in light of recent experience, I find myself preparing for any eventuality.
Is this an acceptable frame of reference to lead a satisfying life?
Diogenes Small
Wellington St, Perth

A LABOR and Green leaning chunk of Mt Lawley will be pulled out of the Perth electorate and shipped over to the northern neighbouring district, making it harder for the Labor party to retake their traditional urban seat at the next election.

The electoral commission’s proposal (supported by a Liberal party submission) means Liberal MP Eleni Evangel’s 2.6 per cent two-party preferred margin over Labor at the last election is likely to grow, because booths like Mt Lawley Tafe that collected more Labor and Greens votes in 2013 will now be in Michael Sutherland’s Mt Lawley electorate.

The Mt Lawley Liberal is well placed to absorb the influx of more lefties, with a healthy 59.4 per cent of the two-party preferred vote at the last election.

The proposed change—open to objections until August 24—is intended to bring the Perth district back into line with the maximum number of people in an electorate.

It also means Vincent city council’s area will now be split between two state MPs.

GREEN thumb volunteers are needed to help plant 7000 native plants to transform Britannia Reserve.

As part of Planet Ark’s national tree day on Sunday, Vincent city council’s going ahead with “eco-zoning” the reserve by replacing its water-guzzling grass with native plants that need less water, fertiliser and labour.

The plan’s been around since 2011 after former councillor Warren McGrath suggested the idea. Two areas each year are being ecozoned until about 10 per cent of grass around Vincent is replaced.

It’s on July 26, 8am to 12.30pm, starting at the carpark on Britannia Road, and there’s a free barbie.

Register with designated tree woman sarah.hill@vincent.wa.gov.au or on 9273 6027, and if you do have gloves or shovels bring ‘em along.

by DAVID BELL

MAYLANDS residents will likely lose their latest battle with Bayswater city council over plans to improve safety on Seventh Avenue.

The Seventh Avenue Street Alliance, which in March lost a bid to close the road to traffic, is now asking the council for a roundabout at the Coode Street intersection.

Alliance spokesperson Gail Cameron says the group is renewing its fight for the “best traffic calming option” after a recent report found the intersection to be one of the most dangerous in the area.

“It was information residents weren’t aware of when we first started,” says Ms Cameron.

The OPUS report, costing the council $72,000 and tabled in April, found the intersection to be “hazardous”, with eight on-site crashes— three fatal or requiring medical care — in the past five years.

Ms Cameron reckons a roundabout is the next-best option to slow traffic on the street, following the failed bid for a dead-end.

But mayor Sylvan Albert says raising pavements and installing traffic islands near the Coode Street stop signs should be enough, and that’s backed by the OPUS report authors.

“This is recommended to be…effective at reducing speed and addressing safety issues and at a much lower cost with less impact on residents,” Cr Albert says.

The council’s plan costs around $35,000 compared to $220,000 for a roundabout.

“Roundabout construction would require substantial earthworks with impacts (to) adjoining properties as well as the need to relocate power poles and underground power,” Cr Albert says.

He adds a roundabout will make it harder for walkers and cyclists to pass the intersection as vehicles aren’t required to stop.

The council will consider all options at its July 28 meeting.

by EMMIE DOWLING

THE organisers of the Leederville Farmers’ Markets may have to pay rent of nearly $20,000 a year to use the Frame Court car park

Market owner Paul Ashbolt petitioned Vincent council to move the markets to Frame Court from a nearby spot. He’s hoping the new site with trees, a grassed area and playground will make the markets more viable.

Council staff say the plan will cost the city $32,175 per year in lost parking fees.

Mr Ashbolt told the Voice the proposed rent is “an issue for us” and notes the carpark only has 30 to 40 per cent usage Sunday mornings.

He says a formal appeal has been made to the council to bring terms “into line with that of other markets such as Subiaco and Mt Claremont who both run out of primary schools and enjoy that privilege rent-free”.

He notes those markets also have volunteers who provide support at virtually no cost.

The Leederville Farmers’ Markets were set up in part to give local producers a place to sell outside the Coles/Woolies duopoly.

“The market is making none of us rich,” Mr Ashbolt says, “but we do love what we do both for the local community and the WA growers and food artisans that we support.”

Given the markets are “far from entirely driven by commercial considerations” he hopes the council will give them “some kind of break on these fees”.

Councillors vote next week.

by DAVID BELL