Perth Voice Interactive

$26,000 commission for new Maylands bar

MICHIEL DE RUYTER is looking for a local artist to design a public artwork for his multi-million dollar bar and live music venue in Maylands.

The Guildford Road venue is scheduled to open next spring and, under Bayswater council’s per cent per art scheme, Mr de Ruyter must spend around $26,000 on a public artwork.

“Lyric Lane is looking to work with a local Perth artist to design, construct and install a community artwork within the Lyric laneway,” he says.

“The artwork is envisaged to be a sculpture depicting the history and current interests of the community but is open to artistic interpretation and concepts.

Mr de Ruyter plans to form a small group to help him chose a winning design.

“Cr Michelle Sutherland has expressed an interest in being involved, and it would be good to get representatives from Creative Maylands and the local historical society as well,” he says.

“There is a lot of history in Maylands and it was the landing site of the first non-stop flight across Australia, performed by Charles Kingsford-Smith.”

Lyric Lane is in the detailed design phase and Mr de Ruyter plans to apply for a building permit in March. Its bar area will hold 100 and the soundproof basement 150.

The three-storey venue will be built on the site of the old Speedlite bike shop, near Rifo’s. Interested artists should email michiel@makogroup.com.au.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

CRIME concerns have prompted Bayswater police to organise a community forum in Bedford.

The date for the event is yet to be determined.

“The cricket club was broken into recently, the self-cleaning toilet block was vandalised again last week, and there are drug dealers running product in and out of the area,” says Stirling city councillor David Lagan, who lives in the area.

“For the past two years there has been a lot of anti-social behaviour, including theft, vandalism and anti-social drinking, on the border between Inglewood and Bedford.

“I had a meeting with the police last week who agreed to up patrols in the area—residents want to see more coppers on the streets.”

Acting police inspector Dave Whitnell concedes issues affecting Bedford include “stealing, burglaries, motor vehicle theft, damage and assaults”. Both he and Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker say the high concentration of state government housing in the area is part of the problem.

“Within Bedford we have several areas of government-provided housing and historically these housing precincts bring their own unique series of issues,” Mr Whitnell says, adding police are working closely with locals on the ground to “identify and tackle the root cause of these problems”.

Ms Baker is encouraging locals with concerns to attend, when a date has been set, and says the public housing mix has to be part of the discussion.

“I think that Homeswest need to look at the percentage of public housing they have in each suburb and make sure it is distributed on an even basis and not too concentrated,” she says.

“I will attend the forum and look forward to working with the police and the community to address these on-going issues.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

AFTER nearly a year away from work following a heart attack, Vincent city council’s community services boss Rob Boardman is back on the job.

Mr Boardman is in charge of the rangers and health compliance, and his absence during recovery marked a troubled year amongst Vincent’s top echelon. For most of the year there was no permanent planning director after the last one quit, while finance boss Mike Rootsey had to fill in as temporary CEO till mid 2014. Mr Rootsey has since retired after significant errors were uncovered in the council’s budget, requiring a scaling back of projects.

The finance job was advertised in December with a maximum $218,000 total package and an eye-boggling 21.5 per cent superannuation. New CEO Len Kosova is specifically looking for “a head for numbers and an eye for detail” and “experience with budgets”. Once that spot’s filled, the council will have a permanent line up of directors for the first time since mid-2013—just in time for amalgamation with Perth.

by DAVID BELL

NORTHBRIDGE’S iconic live music venue The Bakery will close forever on May 9.

For more than a year there’ve been whispers about when the venue run by Artrage would close but now it’s set in stone.

The property was sold last August and a mysterious major development is planned.

The Bakery opened 13 years ago and earned a name hosting arty events such as Sugar Blue Burlesque, big international acts like Wire, and plenty of local bands at events like last weekend’s hit Pulmac launch.

All its bartenders had beards, all the women wore knitted sweaters, and graffiti in the toilets was strangely uplifting.

Artrage CEO Marcus Canning says the Last Toast program starting April 29 will be a fitting send-off, featuring local artists, punters and staff who’ve been involved with the place sharing stories and memories.

PULMAC pulls ’em

THERE were good reviews all round for last Sunday’s launch gig at The Bakery of the Perth Underground Live Music Appreciation Club.

Muso and producer Peter Renzullo started the club on Facebook to encourage punters to get out and see more live bands. He said it was a great turn out with all-round good vibes, but the part that stuck with him most was when two musos came up to him and said they’d met through PULMAC and were going to start a band together.

He already has plans for a second gig to showcase local music, with a shindig at the Herdsman Lake tavern planned for February 7.

Stories by DAVID BELL

LIVING in the city doesn’t mean you can’t have chooks says Mt Hawthorn’s Irma Lachmund.

She’s had hens at her place ever since her neighbour went on holiday for three months and asked her to chicken-sit.

When the neighbour returned she had to hand back her new friends, enduring just two cluck-free days before heading out to get her own.

“I was addicted to chickens!” Ms Lachmund laughs. “I love to sit outside with a cup of coffee and watch the chickens. My boyfriend always says ‘you’re watching chicken telly again’.”

While the flighty birds with little brains are undoubtedly entertaining, the main reason she got them in was so they’d eat the slaters pillaging her vegies. She’d rather chickens eat the bugs instead of laying down poisons.

Ms Lachmund’s now starting up the Urban Chook Network. A member of Transition Town Mt Hawthorn (a resident-driven group all about sustainability) she wants to build a community amongst chook owners, and share ideas and tips on keeping them in the suburbs while encouraging newbies to get their own brood.

“We want to encourage people into their own food production,” she says, enjoying the flow of free-range chicken eggs for her omelettes.

Perth’s heat is one troublesome thing about keeping them in the city: above 35 degrees and they start to struggle and need constant cool water and be fed at night so the energy produced while digesting doesn’t overheat them.

It’s also tough to navigate the maze of arcane local laws that still forbid roosters, or enclosures within 15m of neighbouring dwellings, or any chooks south of Vincent Street. While some rules are often ignored, you’ll buy a rooster at your peril.

Ms Lachmund’s chook affinity goes back to her days as a young girl growing up on a German farm: “Everyone had a duty,” she says, “and mine was to bring in the chicken eggs”.

There’s more info on her Facebook page Urban Chooks Perth, and there’s a launch at Vincent city council on January 20 at 6pm, RSVP irmaperth@gmail.com.au

by DAVID BELL

THE Morley Action Group plans to cram into the City of Swan’s council chamber this week to protest Colin Barnett’s council amalgamations.

Under merger plans, the northern section of Morley will be carved out of Bayswater and become part of Swan.

MAG chair Eric Davies says around 500 locals have signed a petition opposing the move.

“We are working with a solicitor on preparing an submission that will be submitted to the state government next week,” he says.

“In that submission, Morley is not split in half and stays in Bayswater.

“Residents are worried about the value of their property falling, higher rates and reduced services.”

MAG’s fight hit a snag when it had to go and collect another 400 signatures after using the wrong petition form.

“It was a bit of a pain,” Mr Davies sighs.

He says that if the group loses its fight, it will try to get its people elected to the new Bayswater-Bassendean super council at the October elections.

“We have a plan B, and if that fails a plan C, which I won’t reveal at the minute,” he says.

“Suffice to say, we have a few wealthy people who are willing to fund a long-term fight.”

So far, Mr Davies says MAG has paid a solicitor thousands of dollars to help prepare a professional merger submission.

Bayswater mayor Sylvan Albert is backing the group.

“The city supports retaining the affected portion of Morley and it certainly came as a surprise when the announcement was made that we were to lose this area to the City of Swan,” he says.

“So we can understand the frustration of the residents concerned.

“The city’s own submission retained this affected portion of Morley within the City of Bayswater.”

In November, it was standing room only at Bayswater city council when Morley residents crammed the chamber to protest mergers.

Another 350 attended a protest rally in Mahogany Park and a website was created last year: http://www.morleyboundarychanges.org

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

REMEMBER the days of thumbing through sallow pictures in photo albums and having slide nights with riveted neighbours?

Emily Hornum’s exhibition The Substance of Memory explores how new media has altered the family archive and the way we relate to our past.

Ms Hornum, a 28-year-old visual arts student, has laid bare her own past in her exhibition, using photos, slides and audio of her deceased father, and grandmother who suffers Alzheimer’s.

“I lost my father when I was 11 and my grandmother has Alzheimer’s, so preserving family memories has always been important to me,” she says.

“My grandmother is 82, but in the past five years her memory has deteriorated quite rapidly, and we have recorded her speaking about the past.

“With the rise of camera phones, photographs have gone from being keepsakes to a form of communication: their role has changed considerably.”

Ms Hornum’s exhibition—employing a scrum of VHS, projections, multi-panel video, audio, slides and photography—immerses visitors in a nostalgic cauldron of noise and vision.

“Digital media has changed the way we capture, record, store, share, tag and narrate our memories,” Ms Hornum says.

“And because of this shift to new media we’re now also photographing so much more.”

The Substance of Memory, at the Project Space in ECU Mount Lawley, opens on January 29.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

ALL meetings between councillors and big developers must be declared on a register says Vincent mayor John Carey.

Meanwhile, CEO Len Kosova is moving to end the stream of gifts and hospitality freebies that have traditionally flowed to council staff.

Mr Carey says the moves demonstrate his council’s commitment to transparency and have not been sparked by any particular problem with the current system.

“With this new council and mayor, we are really trying to change the culture of our council and lift the standards,” he says. “We want to make sure that residents can see clear transparency in our decision-making.

“Often you will get contentious developments,” Mr Carey says, especially as density pressures see big flat blocks or small bars creep into residential areas, and “this ensures there’ll be no perception issues” about who’s met with who.

Mr Carey says it’s not unusual for him to meet with developers to discuss their projects and ensure they’re communicating with neighbours, but he ensures senior planning staff are always present.

The mayor would also like to see developers banned from donating to candidates, but says that’s something for the state government to sort out.

by DAVID BELL

THE role of Jewish soldiers in World War I will be recognised in a touring exhibition in the making.

Keith Shilkin from the Centenary of Anzac Jewish Program has been helping dig into the history and says the Jewish role in the war is largely a story of integration. He says there was anti-semitism—common at the time—but not on a systemic level. Most Jewish soldiers declared their religion when enlisting, with only few attempting to fly under the radar by pretending to be Presbyterian.

General John Monash—one of the war’s most distinguished soldiers—was viewed with suspicion more for his German blood than his Jewish heritage, and a Jewish monument was erected before the main state war memorial went up in Kings Park.

There were about 2000 Jewish people in WA at the time and 150 signed up—roughly the same proportion as the wider WA population, and often for similar motivations of national loyalty, Dr Shilkin says.

Perth federal Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan worked with the local Jewish community to secure a grant for the exhibition.

She says the popular narrative that WWI, and particularly Gallipoli, forged our national identity is a bit off the mark: she argues Australia had already been forged by the shedding of Britain’s class system and its integration of Jewish migrants.

Ms MacTiernan says the Great War was simply the first time Australia was introduced to the world as a nation, and it was noticed that our troops didn’t bow and scrape to the officer classes as their British counterparts did.

“We’ve been a multicultural society for a long time,” Ms MacTiernan says, “and we’ve seen people come from a real diversity of backgrounds willing to chip in from very early on.”

When it tours next year the exhibition will feature historical documents, photos and stories, along with the historic Anzac Torah presented to Jewish chaplain Rabbi David Freedman by the chief Rabbi of Alexandria during WWI, but which went missing for many years.

by DAVID BELL