Perth Voice Interactive

IT’S taken many months riding around the streets of North Perth but the Houses of 6006 project is complete.

Local photographer Brad Serls set out to the capture the houses of his neighbourhood, exploring every street and right of way of North Perth (“Long live 6006,” Perth Voice, June 16, 2014). 

Sometimes it’s a story of dilapidation and one of the prominent houses of the exhibition has since disappeared.

In an area like North Perth that’s going through a lot of change, political inference is difficult to avoid. But to people who’ve suggested he’s anti-development or anti-progress Serls says his work is a “celebration” of old places rather than a protest at their demise.

He says once you get off the main streets you find places that look like they’re from other cities altogether, so it’s worth taking a different route than your every day commute.

A favourite part of the project was the conversations that came out of it. People invited him around for a coffee to talk about the history of their place and meeting new people has been an unexpected plus. Some 70 per cent of the people who’ve RSVPd to his invites were strangers who’d been following the project.

The exhibition opens Monday November 3 at the William Street Bird at 6pm and it’s on the whole month.
As for what’s next, Serls has invited envoys from other nearby councils to the exhibition, hoping they’ll be keen to hire him on to document their residential streets too. This project and its 100 images will all be donated to the state library pictorial archive.

by DAVID BELL

DIANELLA’S “Disco House” is to be added to Stirling’s heritage inventory.

Officially known as Marsala House, it is the youngest home on the WA heritage register and a classic example of brutalist-style architecture.

Built in 1976 for the Marsala family, the split-level home has a Las Vegas-inspired dance floor.

The house was designed by highly-regarded WA architect Iwan Iwanoff,  a Bulgarian immigrant who became renowned for working with concrete blocks and his Brutalist style.

Richard Offen, from Heritage Perth, says the building’s design is divisive.

“Marsala House has been on the state heritage register for five years now, a fact which celebrates this exceptional late 20th century house,” he says.

“Like it or hate it, this house designed by internationally renowned architect Iwan Iwanoff, is an amazing example of the brutalist style of architecture which was all the rage in the ‘60s and ‘70s.”

Mark Etherton and Christopher Beer bought Marsala house for $725,000 in 2005 and renovated extensively.

They sold it in 2012 for around $2.2 million to street artist Stormie Mills and his wife, PR expert Melissa Lekias.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE sign says “tree protection zone” but that hasn’t stopped Bayswater council cutting down trees within it.

Greg Smith lives next door to Halliday Park and has watched one tree after another disappear, and he now uses the council’s motto “the garden city” only in jest.

He says to erect a sign declaring a tree protection zone is so Orwellian in its doublespeak the council must be taking the mickey.

The 1922 park is heritage-protected, named for the pioneering Halliday family with certain trees in memory of the family members.

Mr Smith, a former town planner once arrested for writing “ecocide” in chalk after trees were cut down to make way for Perth’s Elizabeth Quay development, argues heritage protection should extend to the trees within the park otherwise it’s hardly worth the paper it’s written on.

The council doesn’t agree.

In a written response forwarded by his media minion, mayor Sylvan Albert says “seven of the 53 trees… have reached the end of their safe life expectancy and are to be replaced”.

They’re considered to, “pose an unacceptable risk to park users. The trees are in a dangerous condition with large amounts of dead decaying wood within their structure”.

Staff considered improving the trees but reckoned “there are no realistic prospects”.

As for the bizarre twist on the “tree protection area” sign, Cr Albert says that’s required under Australian standards and the council’s required to use it. Several of the trees to be removed aren’t in that fenceline.

Mr Smith is not optimistic about a replacement scheme. Removed trees the council pledged to replace remain home to empty spots. He also showed the Voice a fledgling tree at the eastern edge of the park which had been replaced about five times due to poor nurturing.

“Putting Bayswater city in charge of tree protection is like putting a paedophile in charge of the children’s picnic,” he says, sadly.

South of the river in Beaconsfield it’s the opposite story: Fremantle city council is refusing to cut down a tree that’s on life support, despite the owner of the nearest property wanting the balded, gnarly crooked thing gone because it looks like an angry skeleton’s hand bursting from the ground.

Freo council only cuts down trees that are “unsafe, dead, or incorporates less than 10 per cent green growth”. This one probably has around 10.1.

by DAVID BELL

CHRISSIE PARROTT ARTS in Maylands is closing.

For three years the not-for-profit performing arts space has showcased more than 2000 emerging artists in dance, theatre, art and music from its 400sqm venue. Owner Chrissie Parrott decided to close after failing to secure government funding.

“We thought we were pretty much guaranteed the money but it fell through, and we were told it was because the price of iron ore had plummeted,” she told the Voice. “It’s really sad and we’ve spent the past week sifting through stuff with the odd laugh and tear. I like to think that during those three years we managed to showcase independent artists, who otherwise would not have had an outlet for their talents.”

Last year the venue hosted The Fringe, with performances by Louise Honeybul and Kynan Hughes who have gone on to play larger venues.

From January the venue will be home to an expanded Kurb Gallery, relocating from its 140sqm studio in Northbridge. Director Dan Spriggs says rent on the William Street property has skyrocketed 200 per cent in the past few years: “It’s a bit sad, because we’ve been on William Street for 30 years and have averaged around 46 shows a year. But the rent was just getting too high and we had to move.

“On the plus side, there’s lots more room in the new place and we can have an artists’ studio and an exhibition gallery.”

Spriggs plans to showcase visual and performance arts, including printmaking, painting, photography and experimental music.

Dance director Parrott and partner Jonathan Mustard, a composer, are confident their combined 40 years’ experience in the industry will see them right.

“We’ll survive,” she laughs. “We haven’t pulled a wage for three years but we’ve just managed to land a major commission, so things are looking up.”

Ms Parrott will auction artworks, gilded frames, velvet curtains and other fixtures and fixings this weekend. Viewings from 11-1pm with the auction starting 2pm at the Sussex Street studio.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

BAYSWATER is going green with a new city-wide bike plan.

The council will spend $100,000 a year on a series of improvements recommended by an independent bike plan that it commissioned.

Works will include resurfacing, direction signs and new cycle lanes in areas including Riverside Gardens and Eighth Avenue.

Proposed bicycle boulevards will link the Morley city centre with the Midland to Perth rail line and the foreshore through the roads of Drake, Lawrence, Leake and Catherine Streets.

Maylands resident John Caputo says sections of the cycle path near the yacht club need re-surfacing: “I cycle and rollerblade with my kids down at the river all the time,” he says. “We usually go all the way down to Claisebrook Cove in East Perth.

“Most of the path is good but there a few sections near the yacht club that could be smoother—especially when you’re rollerblading!”

Mayor Sylvan Albert says the bike plan will be good for kids.

“Having access to safe routes is especially important when bringing your kids to school,” he says.

“This way you can safely teach kids to ride their bikes from a young age.

“The city has reviewed the existing cycling infrastructure, including local routes and shared paths.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE WA planning commission has openly conceded “unintended and undesirable” developments are happening because of its multiple dwellings rules.

When the new rules came through they allowed developers to build units in lower density areas like residential Mt Hawthorn and some old areas around Hyde Park (R30 for the zoning buffs).

The changes came about because of industry concerns there wasn’t enough wiggle room for affordable housing, flexible designs and diverse housing stock (eg, units, townhouses, villas) in established areas. The WA government’s also keen to get houses up, close to Perth and existing infrastructure, for all the people moving to the state over the next couple of decades.

With dollars in their eyes, developers rolled in to knock down single houses and put up a boatload of units despite cries of protest from neighbours, a cacophany familiar to any seasoned Voice reader.

The WAPC has now acknowledged the rules have had unintended consequences, allowing too much height and too much density in some areas where they shouldn’t be.

They’ve also led to unforeseen pressures on local services, parking jams and complaints the new units are often “out of character”.

The WAPC, the state’s supreme planning authority, is now making it tougher to stick unit blocks in less dense neighbourhoods and developments will require the same amount of open space on-site as regular houses, along with setbacks.

Amendments to address those concerns are out for public comment at http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/rcodes or at their HQ at 140 William Street, Perth.

While there’s often some backlash when a property owner proposes a three-storey whopper towering over neighbours, a local who spoke at a recent Vincent meeting reminded councillors there was an upside too. He said single-property prices were soaring and multiple dwellings were a cheaper way to live in the city.

“I personally would like my children to have the same opportunity to buy into the housing market as I did, instead of contribute to the urban sprawl.”

by DAVID BELL

THE big bottleyard apartment project on Palmerston Street has been approved.

The 125-unit project on the sandy site exceeds the usual three storeys allowed in the area, but the developer was granted six for good design and environmental credentials with one of the largest residential solar arrays in the hemisphere.

Handle Property Group chief Peter Burke originally aimed for five storeys for the owners. After negotiating with locals he agreed to move one of the storeys away from residences and stack it on top over near the Robertson Park where people wouldn’t be so bothered by it, making the sixth.

Mr Burke—son of former premier Brian—said the final $30 million plan was greatly improved from the first draft, which someone had described at the time as “shit”. Many neighbours remained unhappy with the size but it was approved three-two by the local DAP, with Megan Bartle and Cr Josh Topelberg opposing.

The bottling plant on the site was once owned by Alan Bond and demolished years ago, leaving an empty lot for archaeologists to dig through. Some 3337 ancient bottles were dug up, some of the rarer ones worth $1000 each. That collection was almost sold to private hands but it was instead offered to the WA museum. Vincent council had sold the site for a song to Ocean Bird Nominees, and it’s now owned by the evocatively named Bizwest Corp and Tripleview Holdings.

by DAVID BELL