Perth Voice Interactive

A CLOTHING BIN operator will donate $100,000 to charity and issue a public apology after conceding he may have misled the public.

E’Co Australia has settled supreme court legal action taken by WA’s consumer protection commissioner, which claimed director Mark Brian Keay had engaged in misleading conduct and unfair trade practices.

The commission launched the action after concerns that 300 E’Co Kids charity bins in Perth—often positioned next to Sammy’s and ParaQuad bins—implied donated clothes would be given to poor children in Africa and that E’Co was a charity or not-for-profit organisation.

In fact the company sold donated clothes to second-hand merchants in Africa and made a profit.

In March 2011 Stirling city council banned E’Co Kids from placing 31 bins on council property, saying the company could disadvantage “benevolent institutions”.

‘the public has the right to know whether the collection bin is part of a business or a charity’

Council staffers reported that while “E’Co Kids Trust was a ‘charitable fund’ for tax purposes it is not clear as to the operation of the Trust”.

“Should the city permit those businesses that operate as a charitable trust, which could be numerous, it will make the operations of those benevolent institutions traditionally permitted to install clothing bins less viable.”

Mr Keay hit back at the time, saying it was part of a co-ordinated campaign by established charities to protect their turf.

He sent the Voice images of Sammy’s failing to clean rubbish at sites shared with E’Co Kids and ParaQuad, and of ParaQuad collectors shifting rubbish from the front of their bins to the front of E’Co Kids’ bins.

In November 2011 E’Co agreed to put stickers on its bins stating donated clothes may be sold for a profit.

Consumer protection commissioner Anne Driscoll says the public should not be misled: “Whether the donations are in the form of money or clothing, the public has the right to know whether the collection bin is part of a business or a charity. Donors need to have confidence that their donations are benefiting the people or purpose that they believe are being supported.

“Anyone engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct to take advantage of the generosity and goodwill of the community for commercial gain, will risk legal action and potential damage to their reputations.”

 by STEPHEN POLLOCK

AN outspoken critic of Vincent city council is having his premises investigated for illegal building works installed 20 years ago—more than a decade before he moved in.

Stuart Lofthouse, who operates Greens & Co on Oxford Street, is a regular and vocal attendee of council meetings. He claims council processes lack transparency and that the council often fails to follow its own processes.

He’s clashed with the council over draft concept images of Leederville which had showed his building bulldozed to make a laneway, he’s criticised an on-road cafe plan that favoured certain businesses, he’s taken aim at suspiciously spotty community consultation, and called out what he describes as favours for the nearby Leederville hotel.

targeted for “being outspoken”

Recently someone dobbed him into Vincent council over a couple of walls in the upper level of his cafe that were installed about 20 years ago without approval. Mr Lofthouse moved in seven years ago.

He says he’s being targeted for “being outspoken”.

He leases the building and suspects whomever dobbed him in was trying to cause friction with his landlord, to get him to move on.

Vincent acting CEO Mike Rootsey says the investigation stemmed from a written complaint and the works must comply with building code rules on “fire safety, structural integrity, access and egress etc”.

The council’s formally asked that the works be removed, or an occupancy permit submitted.

Mr Lofthouse is now working with a surveyor to see what rectifications need to be done.

He submitted a freedom of information request to find out who ratted: in response he received a heavily redacted letter with the sender’s identity blanked out.

“I have it under good authority that Stuart Lofthouse has made some renovations to the mezzanine levels at Greens and Co and is indeed living above that business,” the complainant had claimed. “Is it possible to have this investigated?”

The blanked out sections tell a tale of their own: The redacted boxes are in the exact same location as the signature, logos and contact information as emails from the Leederville hotel.

We called the pub’s general manager Jason Antczak to ask if he’d sent the email: “I have no comment on the matter I’m afraid,” he said.

by DAVID BELL

STIRLING residents face higher parking fines and fewer free bays after the council rubber-stamped a new policy Tuesday night.

The update of six-year-old parking laws sees many $60 parking penalties increased to $80, including failure to pay at a metered bay and parking when a meter has expired.

The penalty for parking in a clearway will nearly double from $80 to $150 and the council has closed a loophole that allowed residents to park on verges opposite their own property.

The council voted to expand the amount of paid parking at “high demand locations” across the municipality, including Herdsman Business Park within Walters Drive, Hasler and Parkland Roads, and around Glendalough rail station.

“It is likely that paid parking will expand into other similar locations,”city staff advised.

Public consultation yielded just one response, relating to the removal of abandoned vehicles.

Mayor Giovanni Italiano insists the changes are designed to encourage public transport and are not about revenue-raising.

“The benefit to ratepayers is that the expansion and maintenance of parking facilities will be funded from the proceeds of paid parking, rather than by ratepayers,” he says.

“This is important as surveys of the city’s parking facilities have indicated that 70 per cent of users are not Stirling ratepayers.”

Council manager Laurie Crouch says more paid parking spaces will ease driver frustration.

“Longer trip times and traffic congestion, looking for a bay, add to drivers’ frustrations,” she says.

The council has budgeted $5.8 million to come from the anticipated increase of paid parking at the Herdsman and Glendalough areas.

Councillors voted to amend the policy to allow one hour free parking at the Cedric Street business centre and issue permits to Glendalough residents.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

ABOUT $24,000 of Perth ratepayers’ hard-earned is set to be spent sending city councillor James Limnios and infrastructure director Doug Forster to a Copenhagen summit.

The money covers business class flights, accommodation, and “appropriate travel expenses”.

They’re heading to Denmark in May to attend the International Cleantech Network summit, provided the PCC’s submission on redeveloping west Northbridge is accepted. The summit includes themes like creating a liveable city, intelligent water management and “optimising urban mobility”.

Perth is the only Australian council planning to send delegates and Perth staff say showing up “adds further to the City of Perth’s prominence in terms of international alliances”.

by DAVID BELL

CLEAN up your own mess and please stop throwing jellyfish at public art, Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi is pleading.

The council is spending $380,000 on a third high-pressure cleaner, as two apparently aren’t enough to regularly service mucky streets.

Ms Scaffidi says individuals must take responsibility for the cleanliness too.

She recently spotted a couple of kids making a mess outside her home, near the boat sculpture on Claisebrook Cove.

“On Sunday afternoon I was about to have a nanna nap and I looked out of my window and there were these two nine-year-old boys smashing to pieces a great big jellyfish onto the little boat outside my house.

“Clean up your own mess”

“They didn’t know who I was, so I went out on the balcony and I said: ‘Do you live here?’”

The youngsters said “no”.

“Would you clean up the remains of that jellyfish?” Ms Scaffidi then asked, offering an old towel to the reluctant but obedient boys. “Do it in your own neighbourhood next time!”

“Just as well I did, because when I woke up later there was a whole family sitting on that boat that wouldn’t have been able to if I hadn’t forced those kids to clean up.

“You have to understand this story, because this is personal social responsibility, that is magnified over this city hundreds if not thousands of times where people are just doing what they want to do and not considering that other people need to use that space.”

She says the city can have all the best newfangled cleaning technology in the world, but it needs city visitors to get on board and clean up their act too.

by DAVID BELL

“BY mutual agreement” John Giorgi has left Vincent city council with eight months remaining on his contract.

In February councillors decided 7–1 to not renew the CEO’s contract upon its December 31 expiry. Mr Giorgi—CEO for 20 years—has been on leave for much of the time since.

A press release from the council claimed he, “leaves on amicable terms which resulted from productive dialogue and the desire of the council and Mr Giorgi to act in the best interests of the city”.

Mayor John Carey says Mr Giorgi was “paid out his legal entitlements”. Axing the CEO cost $35,000 in legal advice.

The search for a new CEO is now on, with Mr Carey, deputy mayor Ros Harley and Cr Josh Topelberg on the panel to find a replacement. With Vincent set to be amalgamated with neighbouring Perth, it’s likely to be an 18-month contract.

A key requirement is someone who can bring “best practice for planning processes and policy”. Vincent’s planning department has been copping a hammering, with developers complaining of long waits, trouble with the design advisory committee, and inconsistencies and errors in reports.

Mr Carey concedes the department needs more resources.

by DAVID BELL

XINTIANDI restaurant in Northbridge has shut after being pinged $40,000 in health fines, including failure to clear pests from the premises.

The swanky Francis Street restaurant was convicted of five offences, including failure to keep the premises clean and failure to stop pests getting inside.

After shutting down for a week to make changes to its hygiene procedures, Xintiandi met Perth city council health standards, but ceased trading a few months later.

Hawker’s Cuisine, formerly in Roe Street, renovated the property in February and moved in last month.

Meanwhile, Woolworths Noranda was pinged $20,000 for selling food containing a “foreign object” in its bakery at the Palms Shopping Centre.

An investigation was triggered after Bayswater city council received a complaint from the person who’d bought the item.

“Woolworths takes food safety extremely seriously and acknowledged the issue in our bakery at our Noranda store in court,” Woolies spokesperson Russell Mahoney said.

“We have replaced the equipment in the store to ensure there can be no further incidents of this type.”

Karaoke restaurant The Galaxy Lounge, also on Francis Street, was fined $8000 for selling food without notification or registration.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK