Perth Voice Interactive

POCKETS of dangerous methane gas could scupper plans to build a new cafe down at the Maylands foreshore.

After 10 years of umming and awwing, Bayswater city council recently set aside $21,500 to investigate building a sea-container style cafe at the river.

But the plans might never get off the drawing board because of pockets of underground gas.

“The cafe investigations of this nature would involve technical specialised advice, including the implications of methane gas,” wrote council officers.

The WA environment department is currently assessing several “contaminated” sites in Bayswater, including the Maylands foreshore, golf course and yacht club.

Cr Terry Kenyon, the former mayor, says the council should buy back the riverside cafe it sold to the rowing club.

“As far as I know the rowing club only meet there one day a week and for the other six days it sits empty,” he told colleagues.

“We should negotiate with them about buying out their 25-year lease, rather than spending $20,000 on another foreshore study.

“We have dilly-dallied long enough on this.”

Cr Michelle Sutherland also bemoaned the council’s 10-year procrastination.

“We’ve been operating at a snail’s pace on this one,” she says.

“We need to get the ball rolling and could even use some of the existing infrastructure down there.”

Cr Sutherland said the toilets were a “bit dicey” at the rowing club but agreed the premises could be converted into a decent cafe.

Sea container cafes are as popular as bushy beards and jam jars and can be found in Fremantle, Cockburn and at Tomato Lake, Belmont.

Cr Stephanie Coates says the council should take a look at Muvbox, a pop-up shipping container restaurant that can be easily moved about.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

BEING queer, young and Muslim is like being a “crescent-shaped peg” fitting into a “Southern Cross-shaped hole” according to new theatre troupe Third Culture Kids.

Writer Dure Khan, originally from Peshawar in Pakistan, based her new play Once We Were Kings on her experiences with other young people navigating their way through being queer and Muslim in Australia.

Director Mustafa al Mahdi says “most people in the Muslim community, if they don’t fit in they usually don’t rock the boat, they keep it to themselves.

“They’re forced to keep multiple social circles: there’s the religious circle, the social circle, and their nightlife or queer circle, and they never overlap… they try to keep links with their families and culture, but that contrasts with who they are and want to be.”

Some even maintain two Facebook accounts to keep family sequestered from their queer identity.

These days much of mainstream Australia supports gay rights (about 70 per cent want marriage equality) but for Muslim kids coming out there are still many hurdles.

“Some of the Christian queers might just have to break through one barrier, the religious barrier,” al Mahdi says.

“The real interesting thing about queer Muslim youths is they’re not just battling religious conflicts, the conflict is three tiers: the first is social expectations, then cultural expectations, then religious expectations, and being queer is opposing all three.”

Parents who grew up overseas have a tough time understanding: in many middle-eastern countries there’s not even the words for someone to express they’re queer. In 2007, Iran’s then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proudly proclaimed there were no homosexuals in his country.

“It’s not even in the vocabulary,” al Mahdi says. “For them this concept doesn’t even exist, they don’t acknowledge it… most people see it as  ‘you fell and bumped your head’” and got a strange idea.

For queer kids growing up without that reference point “the worst thing is the confusion… here the queer community know what they are, they know what’s being opposed and they know what to fight back with”.

They’ve had a bit of backlash even before the performance hit the stage: al Mahdi says he’s been told “you are defacing Islam,” and the troupe initially had trouble getting a male actor to take part (along with the queer subject matter, some complained that in one scene there was a woman leading prayer, “unacceptable” to conservative Muslims).

Khan is hoping the project starts a conversation: “I also hope it helps other queer or questioning Muslims find themselves and one another. We are not haram (forbidden),” Dure says, “and we are not alone.”

The troupe’s been surprised by the number of people keen to come on board: “This project is kind of like a beacon, a light in the sky, they see it and they have the courage to come out,” al Mahdi says. “Even though it’s very small, it is a means of support.”

He’s optimistic about the future for queer Muslims. He says the internet is opening things up in a huge way. During the Cold War, American rock and roll tapes were smuggled behind the iron curtain at great risk. Today, the internet is a big fat firehose of culture that’s near impossible to plug.

“So much has changed because of the internet, the internet levels the field,” al Mahdi says. He can now go pretty much anywhere in the world and drop a pop culture reference and have it be understood, and it’s becoming impossible to shield people from queer realities.

“For the next generation, it’s almost impossible to turn a blind eye to it. These ideas only survive on fear and ignorance, and fear and ignorance can be cleared out with the internet.”

Once We Were Kings is on at the Blue Room, May 12 to 30, bookings http://www.blueroom.org.au or 9227 7005

by DAVID BELL

THE Beaufort Street Network wants to hear “the good, the bad and the ugly” about the street so it can keep improving it.

Network chair Pam Herron says Beaufort Street has seen some big changes over the past few years, such as murals, new trees, public art, the colourful Beaufort Street sign and the quirky bathtub planters. Her group’s also set up the popular Beaufort Street art market and handles the yearly street festival.

But the street’s also had its troubles. Gentrification sees rent rise. Landlords sit on empty buildings awaiting princely rents (which may never come). Independents get priced out by lucrative bars and restaurants, meaning daytime trade suffers. The quirky stores pack up and leave, and soon it’s only chains that can afford the rent.

Now the network’s hoping locals will come along for a walk down Beaufort Street and share ideas for how to make it better. It’s on Wednesday May 6 at 6pm, and the details (and a passive survey for folks who don’t want to walk) are at http://www.beaufortstreet.com.au/tell-us-what-you-think

by DAVID BELL

DOG-fostering has helped Maylands woman Christine Jones recover from a violent dog attack that injured her and killed her pooch, Jeremy.

It’s almost five months since two great danes attacked her on Railway Parade in Maylands, killing her little kelpie/King Charles cavalier cross who had been named after Jeremy Irons.

In the months since, she’s had a little friend helping her on the road to recovery: a foster dog named Muppet who needed to get out of the Shenton Park dog home and get some extra care in the lead up to surgery.

Muppet turned up a bit of a cheeky boy but Ms Jones says she let him know straight away that mischief (and couch time) was off limits. Even if she’d be happy to have him cuddle up on the couch, Muppet’s new family might have strict rules and he needs good behaviour to be adopted.

Time out of the shelter is also important for dogs looking for forever homes: if they spend too long in the kennel they can get nervous and stressed, which doesn’t make them appealing to a new family.

Ms Jones says after Jeremy was killed “this place felt like a morgue. It didn’t feel like a home anymore, it felt empty”.

“It was just a house. I couldn’t enjoy my garden, I let all my plants die. I thought what’s the point of having a garden if there’s no dog in it?”

Many dog fosterers end up keeping their pooch (“it’s called ‘foster failure, adoption success’,” Ms Jones says), but she says Muppet is very adoptable and she’d prefer to keep working with dogs who need help.

Her first foster dog was Ernie, who she nursed palliatively through a terminal illness.

“I can’t say I haven’t thought about [adopting Muppet]… but it’s not about me, it’s about him, and I reckon he’d be happy with someone who can exercise him every five minutes. And I don’t think there’ll be any problem with him getting a home. I see my role as looking after them until they get to that stage.”

by DAVID BELL

YOU might soon see Bayswater locals nibbling on yams and beetroots in local parks after the council approved the creation of edible gardens on its reserves.

The council will develop a policy that lets locals turn designated areas into fruit and vegie patches.

“This is all about empowering locals to take ownership of their parks,” says Cr Chris Cornish.

“They will be able to take under-utilised areas and plant low-maintenance stuff, like capsicums, and bay leaf and lemon and orange trees.

“The areas don’t have to be fenced off and locals can plant where there is existing infrastructure and reticulation: so it won’t cost council much.”

Cr Cornish also won support to allow residents to transform their verges into vegie patches (Voice, April 10, 2015), although Cr Stephanie Coates expressed concern about the presence of insecticides and fertilisers, as well as pollution if foodie verges are on busy roads.

“We need to make sure the officers develop a comprehensive policy on this one,” she said.

Cr Terry Kenyon was worried the council might be publicly liable if a passer-by tripped over a verge beetroot, but Cr Cornish noted a two-metre setback was required for clear pedestrian access.

In a wide-ranging “green” motion, councillors also voted to advertise for expressions of interest for a community garden.

“The concept has been around for years,” Cr Barry McKenna said. “But I think that with the rise of Men’s Sheds it will be good for retired men who don’t want to do wood or metal work.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK