Perth Voice Interactive

AUSTRALIA’S competition watchdog is worried about Coles’ proposed takeover of the Supa IGA in Dianella.

If the takeover proceeds, Coles will own half the 10 supermarkets within 3km of the store, one of four Supa IGAs in WA in Coles’ sights.

“The [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s] preliminary view is that the proposed acquisition may result in a substantial lessening of competition in one or more of the local markets for supermarket retailing,” commissioner Jill Walker says.

“The ACCC is also concerned that the proposed acquisition would remove access to Supa IGA promotions for shoppers in these areas.”

Local couple Norm and Margaret Cox have shopped at Dianella Plaza for 14 years.

They prefer to shop at IGA because of its “Seniors Tuesday” five per cent discount, but they admit they aren’t particularly loyal and check out various specials before deciding where to shop.

“It is good that the market domination in the supermarket space is being seriously looked at,” says federal Labor Perth MP Alannah MacTiernan.

“Like many Australians, I am perplexed that the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths have been allowed to acquire the percentage of the market they have. It is not healthy to see competition continue to erode.

“It creates difficulty for local suppliers and ultimately leaves consumers vulnerable.”

Coles spokesperson Jon Church says “at this stage we are considering the issues raised by the ACCC”.

The ACCC will accept submissions on the proposed takeover till July 24. Its final decision has been deferred to August 14.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

CHRIS BARTY was three-and-a-half years old before he could walk.

It took him two years to learn to operate a manual car.

Barty was born with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy he says is “equivalent to having the legs of an 85-year-old”.

Now 25, he has come on leaps and bounds and is the goalkeeper for Australia’s paralympic soccer team the Pararoos, captain of WA’s state parafootball side, and goalie for the able-bodied Joondanna Blues.

He says his involvement with the Pararoos was pivotal in building his confidence and drastically improving his physical ability.

Sadly, the future of the team is in doubt after the Australian Sports Commission cut virtually all the Pararoos’ funding ($175,000) because it reckoned it had no chance of qualifying for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.

“We are ranked tenth in the world, but that obviously wasn’t good enough for the commission.”

“To put it in perspective, the funding is half of what Wayne Rooney earns in a week,” Barty says. And Ian Thorpe is reported to have been paid $500,000 for his interview with Michael Parkinson in which he confirmed he was gay.

“The physical benefits to me over the last four years have been astronomical, I couldn’t even hop or skip before I started playing football,” Barty says.

“The team not only helps people with brain injuries achieve their sporting goals, but helps them achieve their life goals.

“My confidence and leadership skills have soared since I became involved.”

To play seven-a-side soccer with the Pararoos, a person must have cerebral palsy or an acquired brain injury, while being able to walk or run sufficiently to play.

Pararoos head coach Paul Brown says a petition calling for funding to be reinstated has garnered 50,000 signatures so far.

“I have been told that the ASC will revisit the situation after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow,” he says.

“This small level of funding is crucial to the survival of the team.

“We are ranked tenth in the world, but that obviously wasn’t good enough for the commission.”

Federal sports minister Peter Dutton refuses to step in.

“Individual funding decisions are a matter for the independent ASC board,” spokesperson Andrew Blow says.

“I understand the director of the Australian Institute of Sport has already commenced discussions with the Pararoos and Football Federation Australia as the sport’s governing body.”

Barty made his debut for the Pararoos in 2012, has amassed 18 caps, and is the team’s first-choice goalkeeper.

His day job is helping seniors with disabilities.

“I hope they get the funding resolved and we can get back on track—the boys are a bit down right now, it’s been difficult to train the last couple of weeks,” Barty says.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

 

HE is Maylands’ best-kept secret.

Down on Tranby Reserve, in the old forgotten interpretive centre building, artisan Matt McVeigh is beavering away, making sets for the stage production of Cloud Street, painting landscapes, and designing mechanical kangaroos.

He moved into the building in 2010, courtesy of a subsidised rent arrangement with Bayswater city council, and since then has gone from strength to strength.

His work includes solo exhibitions, set designs and visual arts, including a four-metre ice sculpture and kinetic wind sculptures.

He is one of the early success stories in a suburb quickly becoming a hotbed for musicians and artists, migrating from extortionate rents in Mt Lawley.

“There is no point in a building lying empty and unused when it could be used as a studio and also benefit the community.”

When the Voice caught up with McVeigh he was building a set for a production by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.

He is pleased to see Maylands is taking off and wants to see more artists benefit from his experience.

“I think more artists could be encouraged to use unused buildings in Maylands by offering them subsidised rents,” says the 26-year-old.

“I think my experience has showed it can work. It has not only benefited me, but the local community, as I have done art for various locals shows and productions.

“There is no point in a building lying empty and unused when it could be used as a studio and also benefit the community.”

McVeigh graduated from the WA Academy of Performing Arts in 2008, majoring in design for live performance.

The council will consider extending McVeigh’s lease later this month.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

VINCENT city council’s rejection of four units on a Mt Hawthorn block is being appealed to the powerful but unelected state administrative tribunal.

The infill plan is intensely unpopular with residents around Lynton Street, who’d shown up in force at the council to urge rejection: “We do not want to have multi-dwellings in our street,” neighbour Brad Wright said at the time, “we want to retain that sense of community.”

While the SAT decides whether to overrule the elected local council decision, locals are putting together a petition asking the council to stymie multiple dwellings on blocks zoned R30 or less.

Petition organiser Richard Morup says locals want the council to change the planning scheme so councillors can consider local objections in decisions and not just letter-of-the-law planning rules. He points out the council asks neighbours what they think during community consultation, but when it comes to the decision it’s done more on planning grounds.

“We are not anti-development or anti-infill, but we believe in orderly planning and in protecting the quiet low-density residential character of our neighbourhood,” Mr Morup says.

“We want councillors to approve or refuse multiple dwelling applications as they see fit, but to always be legally entitled to consider community objections based on impacts on unique local factors.”

Mayor John Carey says staff are preparing options for how to manage multiple dwellings in lower-density areas and a report’s on its way: “We’ve very acutely aware of residents’ concerns, given our position on Lynton Street they know we support them.”

by DAVID BELL

PARENTS are worried $200,000 allocated for a safe crossing on Guildford Road could be sabotaged because of a funding stoush on Bayswater council

The road is so dangerous to cross that several parents refuse to walk their kids to local schools and are driving instead, despite the short distance.

Karen Bedell crosses Guildford Road six times a day to walk her daughter and son to St Columba’s primary school and pre-kindy.

“I must admit it’s an absolute nightmare to cross, but I want my kids to get some exercise and walk to school,” she says.

“You’re perched on a tiny median strip and trucks and cars are shooting by. It’s not ideal.

“There used to be a lollipop man on Guildford Road but he was removed about five years ago because it was so dangerous.

“I refuse to make a five-minute car journey when we live so close by.”

“There used to be a lollipop man on Guildford Road but he was removed about five years ago because it was so dangerous.”

Cr Mike Anderton is fuming the council pledged the crossing money to the WA main roads department, saying it’s a state government responsibility. Numerous attempts to win state funding for the project, including a petition to the parliament in 2010, had failed.

In 2013 the department rejected a request from the primary school, claiming not enough people would use a crossing.

“I was shocked to hear that we had pledged $200,000 to the state government, on the eve of the budget, to do work they should be paying for,” he fumed.

He tried but failed to remove the funding from the budget but parents remain nervous as he’s intimated he’ll seek a formal rescission.

Bayswater primary P&C president Stephanie Baily says children’s safety comes before council and state government funding spats.

“Just last week a bus driver pulled his bus across the lanes of traffic so that we could safely make it to the centre island,” a local mum recently wrote.

“This was after there had been three light changes without us successfully being able to make it to the middle.

“We would walk more often if it was safer to do so as the children really enjoy the experience.”

Ms Baily plans to write to WA transport minister Dean Nalder to keep pressure on the government to approve the crossing.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

 

THE installation of signs to slow down traffic on Beaufort Street has been delayed by a lack of state government funding.

More than two years after WA main roads committed to fund and install 40kph flashing signs on the stretch between Walcott Street and 150 metres south of Queens Crescent the project remains on the shelf.

Stirling council staff told councillors the delay is due to the government prioritising similar signs at “more than 900 schools” across Perth.

“This has, to date, taken a higher priority over Beaufort Street for the limited funding resources that are available. The timing of the installation on Beaufort Street is uncertain at this stage.”

Undeterred, the council is insisting that WA main roads extend lower speed limits through Queens Crescent and up to Rosebery Street, at the end of the Inglewood town centre.

For years Cr Terry Tyzack has pushed for safety measures around Dundas Road.

Meanwhile, council approved a six-month trial to block drivers turning left into Eighth Avenue from Walter Road West, hoping the measure will reduce traffic and accidents at the Hamer Parade intersection.

Cr Rod Willox says it will also stop delivery trucks using the entrance to get to Bunnings at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Beaufort Street.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK