Perth Voice Interactive

THE WA government’s housing density rollout continued to be felt acutely through Vincent this week: Five of the six planning items in front of the council were applications to demolish single homes and erect units or mixed projects.

Real estate agents are embracing the gold rush in their advertising.

On the corner of Vincent and Charles Street, a character house is on the market. The “for sale” sign reads “Make money now! Multi unit site! Character home with redevelopment potential.”

Vincent mayor John Carey says the directive is coming from the WA government’s Directions 2031 plan to handle increased population, and the council needs to manage the increase in units carefully by steering them towards major roads instead of quieter neighbourhoods and back streets.

THE Mt Lawley subway is to be beautified after two years of bureaucratic wrangling.

In June 2012 Bayswater city council accepted a state graffiti grant of $15,000 from WA Police and committed $5000 towards an urban art facelift of the underpass.

But red tape stymied the project and it fell into a bureaucratic limbo: situated at the joint boundaries of Stirling, Vincent and Bayswater city councils, different portions of the site are owned by WA main roads and the public transport authority, which made negotiations complicated.

“Protracted negotiations for the method of installing the artwork onto the bridge structure, access and maintenance arrangements resulted in the PTA not giving their approval for the project until late December 2013,” wrote Bayswater council CEO Francesca Lefante.

Perth street artist Hurben held workshops with four Baysy youngsters, incorporating their preferred colour scheme and underwater theme into the final design.

“The subway artwork was refined with the underwater theme, highlighting the sensation of movement and reflecting the sounds created by the road environment,” wrote Ms Lefante.

“The underwater setting fits in with the ambience and lighting of the site.

“Iconic patterns wrap the fish to mirror the vehicles and the direction they are travelling in, in order to capture the viewers, so they see their reflection and find contemplation as an animal in the world.”

Mt Lawley Liberal MP Michael Sutherland, who mooted the idea of beautifying the subway, says he is pleased it is finally happening.

“As a supporter of good quality urban art I am thrilled to hear that the Mt Lawley subway artwork is underway,” he says.

“It has been a long time coming. I am hoping that the initiative for Urban Art in subways is extended to the King William Street and West Perth subways.

“I wish to thank the Vincent, Bayswater and Stirling councillors and officials for their support as well as the state government which contributed $10,000.”

Vincent councillor Josh Topelberg voted against approving the final artwork, describing it as “not particularly exciting.”

Works are scheduled to commence this week with cleaning and base coat preparation of the walls to be done over two days. The artwork will take around a week to complete.

A photographer arranged by Bayswater city council will snap Hurben creating the aquatic mural.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

AFGHAN interpreters who’d helped Australian troops fight the Taliban are working minimum wage jobs in rural WA.

For their own safety some 800 Afghanis who’d aided the Allies were relocated here after Australia’s withdrawal last year. Around 30 ended up in WA and are being helped to build a new life by the Multicultural Services Centre in North Perth.

“The Afghanis are very proud people with a great work ethic,” says MSC chief Pius Joseph.

“They don’t want to sit about and claim benefits. A lot of them come from farming backgrounds so they are hardy and want to earn money to send back to their families.”

Mr Joseph says the Afghani refugees—all males aged between 25 and 35— have good English but lack the social skills and expertise to work in mining.

Farms in New Norcia and Margaret River have signed up to the program, employing the men to do seasonal harvest work, including baling straw and vine pruning.

Mr Joseph hopes to expand the program and is holding a jobs forum at the MSC to encourage more employers to sign up: “The program not only benefits the Australian economy but helps the refugees,” he says. “It’s good for everyone.”

For 33 years the MSC has been helping refugees integrate into Perth society, including a large number of Karenni refugees from Burma and Thailand.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

Up to the artists
I AM writing to correct a statement attributed to me (“Jarrah bridges old and new,” Voice, June 7, 2014).
The article states I’d said, “we surveyed the community on what they would like to see in the artwork and then conveyed that to the artists.
This is not correct. Creative Maylands asked the community to tell us what the 7th Avenue bridge means to them. We compiled people’s comments as a snapshot of local sentiment for the old bridge and provided this information to shortlisted artists during a site briefing.
Ultimately, it was up to the artists as to whether they made use of this information in developing their artwork concepts.
Anne Goodall
Founder, Creative Maylands

News can be biased, but not the ABC
I REFER to the letter by Ryan McNiece (Voice Mail, June 7, 2014) wherein he bemoans his perceived bias of News Corporation towards the Liberal Party. He further states that picking on the ABC for its bias towards the left is a “small matter”
The difference between the two is that News Corp is a privately owned, funded and run company and not funded by the taxpayers, as is the ABC.
Any political party, pressure group or otherwise  is entitled to raise money from the public or its members and disseminate its views by way of print of other media.
But when a body is publically funded, as is the ABC,  its function should be to inform with as much of an even hand as possible and not  blatantly take political sides.
The ABC should not be telling either a Labor or Liberal story.
I live in hope!
Michael Sutherland
Liberal MLA for Mt Lawley
The Ed says: And of course the Howard government-initiated inquiry into bias found precisely that to be the case, that the ABC was completely balanced and fair. Perhaps News Corp has become so right wing that even the centre appears to be left wing these days?

Wrong folk getting evicted
WELLINGTON SQUARE has always been a resting and meeting place for indigenous folk for many years now.
They comprise mainly of patients with serious illnesses that are sent to the city for treatment from all over the state to be assessed by specialists and undergo treatment not available in isolated areas.
They are usually provided with a tiny allowance of about $60 a night for accommodation close to the hospital that includes meals. Anyone know of any accommodation with meals for that amount in the city?
There is also a number of local homeless people and drifters that include caucasians that gather there as well as a result of being drummed out of the city precinct by City of Perth enforcers.
It is acknowledged that there is a certain amount of alcohol consumed in the park but overall these folk keep to themselves and are antagonised by the odd caucasian and particularly by the constant hen-pecking of the uniformed brigade who act on any trivial complaint and thrives on the easy frivolous arrest and occasional taser practice.
Where are these people supposed to go? Evict them from their own land maybe to Manus Island?
Mayor Scaffidi and deputy Butler should remove [themselves from City Hall] temporarily, alight from the chauffeur-driven limousine and perhaps spend a bit of time with these people to discuss alternatives and solutions. Better still, instead of entertaining the regulars and [usual] mates at Council House why not invite some folk from Wellington Square to the dinner as a gesture of goodwill.
George Bouzidis
Third Ave, Mount Lawley

Where is the ‘judgement’ in established fact?
ATTORNEY-GENERAL George Brandis made a most remarkable statement on ABC Radio’s PM program June 5.
The Coalition government will delete the term “occupied territory” in reference to Israel’s settlements in Palestine because “it’s a judgemental term”.
This foul and malicious verbal trickery comes with ominous implications for the future of truth in politics and world affairs in Australia.
Do we want to be led by a band of Machiavellian manipulators of reality who seek to rewrite historical fact in deference to Israel’s political imperatives?
Logic dictates that if it is a fact that Palestine is a territory and it is also a fact that Israel occupies that territory then the combined term “occupied territory” must also be a fact; it’s unavoidable.
Where, pray tell, is the judgement? This government has consistently maintained an obsequious acquiescence to Israel’s every wish. Now, in its one-eyed determination to serve its chosen “friend” it even willing to abolish logic and to render meaning, meaningless. What makes us think it will treat us any better?
Vincent Sammut
Franklin St, Leederville

ALFRESCO red tape is being slashed in Vincent and—gasp!—buskers are being allowed to play without a permit.

The council’s new “place managers” David Doy and Di Shaw are desperate to scale back the bureaucracy that holds back strips like Oxford, Angove and Beaufort Streets.

Mr Doy says old rules on alfresco are too restrictive, such as permitting one chair per square metre. Recently a Beaufort Street restaurant allowed just six chairs battled for months to try to get more: after all the wrangling it scored one extra.

With funkified cafes using milk crates, benches, and anything else vaguely sittable, Mr Doy reckons it’s time to chuck out the command and control.

Now shop owners can decide for themselves how many hipsters to cram into their designated zones, with customer demand dictating the ratios for Tokyo subway crush to hipster chic.

“It’s a fairly minor change which will have a fairly large impact,” he says.

Buskers will also be allowed to perform in city centres without permits: a move that may cause shudders of horror in neighbouring Perth.

Ms Shaw says the busking system in Fremantle is self-governing and works well and, given Vincent’s not flooded with warblers the regulation is unnecessary.

“Why do we have a permit system when we don’t have any performers?” Mr Doy asks.

The pair will look at hiring a few performers to kick off a busking culture if it’s slow to take off.

by DAVID BELL

STIRLING city council’s plan to ban multiple dwellings on suburban blocks coded below R60 could impact house prices, says REIWA president David Airey.

The council is consulting the public about amending its town planning scheme to reverse a recent decision by the WA government to allow more multiple dwellings on land coded below R60.

“If zoning is changed in a way that cuts back on the number of dwellings that can be built on a block, then yes that will have some impact on property values depending on how and where it’s done,” Mr Airey says.

“REIWA is very supportive of the state government’s ‘Directions 2031’ urban planning ethos which aims for greater density for metropolitan Perth and we encourage the city of Stirling to embrace this too.

“More density, particularly around transport nodes, helps with better housing options and affordability.”

Stirling’s amendment has irked property investment consultancy Momentum Wealth, which has launched a “Stop Stirling Council!” website, petition and social media campaign.

“We started the petition last last year and have collected around 500 signatures,” says managing director Damian Collins.

“We are opposed to a blanket ban on multiple dwellings on land coded under R60 in the suburbs.

“It won’t be appropriate for every situation, but each case should be judged on its merits and a blanket ban is very harsh and a blunt tool.”

Mr Collins says he has already lobbied WA planning minister John Day and plans to submit his petition to the council after public consultation ends on July 3.

Stirling mayor Giovanni Italiano says recent changes by the Barnett government to allow more multiple dwellings will put “pressure on infrastructure in the suburbs” and lead to parking chaos.

“Where we have historically seen two additional dwellings per developable lot we are now seeing an average of nine,” he says.

“Under the current strategy, Stirling could see an additional 272,000 houses and units in its suburbs, 20 times the target of the state government which would create havoc for our residents.

“While it is unlikely there would be 100 per cent uptake of this potential, realising only 10 percent would double the target set by the state.”

Cr Italiano acknowledges the amendment could irk developers.

“We acknowledge there may be some resistance from the building and development sector, however the city of Stirling has a duty to look at the bigger picture and outcomes for the future,” he says.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK