Perth Voice Interactive

The Vietnamese boat people monument of gratitude was opened Sunday at Wade Street Reserve in Perth.

The tale of the work’s progress is eerily similar to that faced by today’s asylum seekers: Its first two attempts to land, at Weld Square and then Robertson Park, were both rejected before Wade Street Reserve was finally deemed acceptable. It’s been a five-year journey for the sculpture, paid for by the Vietnamese community (with Vincent council contributing by sprucing up its new park home).

Australia’s Vietnamese community president Anh Nguyen says the monument thanks Australia for welcoming Vietnamese refugees from the Vietnam War. He says it, “will stand against time as a testimony of our gratitude towards multicultural Australia for welcoming us into this great nation”. The striking 5.5m sculpture by Coral Lowry is “inspired by the bravery of those who embarked on such a highly dangerous and uncertain journey of desperation”.

“The wave plinth carries a stylised boat precariously balancing at the top edge, creating a sense of tension and precariousness within the two elements of the sculpture.”

The sculpture was initially planned for Weld Square but indigenous groups with a history with the site “overwhelmingly objected” to it according to a Vincent council report. Robertson Park was then suggested but deemed too busy and already filled with memorials and features.

Dr Nguyen told the council the piece’s Wade Street home was, “a bright, well-exposed area and is frequented by locals, the general public and tourists.

“It is indeed a perfect and prominent location.”

by DAVID BELL

With the first winter now gone since the Hyde Park lakes restoration, local environmental consultant Andrew Del Marco rates the outcome of the project an eight out of 10.

“They’ve made a good compromise between being true to the park, they’ve started to address the water quality issue, and they’ve done it for a pretty good price,” he says.

The restoration aimed to deal with the effect of hotter summers and lower rainfalls: The lakes were frequently dry in parts, turning them into an acid-sulphate rich sludge.

The Mt Lawley resident has keenly watched the works down at the lakes: When Vincent council first released a concept plan for a more “ornamental” lake that resembled an English garden, Mr Del Marco headed to council armed with a petition asking for a more sustainable and natural option. He was worried that moving the walls 5m inwards would shrink the lakes by 25 per cent.

That petition was successful, and the final plan saw the walls move in by 2m and some edges softened with sedges instead of hard walls.

He says a major part of the project to install a water-quality treatment train looks to have been a success during winter rains. This three-part system takes the runoff from a large chunk of Vincent’s roads and filters it before it gets into the lake, hopefully eliminating nasties and reducing the amount of algal bloom-causing nutrients.

Mr Del Marco says he’d like to see the pollutant trap system expanded across the suburb. He says “we’re living in a fool’s paradise” thinking we can drive around in a catchment and not have it drastically affect the lake.

He says councils like Mandurah have started installing them on smaller scales along roads to stop runoff contaminating stormdrains.

Vincent CEO John Giorgi says his staff is looking at other areas where traps can be installed as part of upgrades, and they’re being rolled out at Robertson Park and Beatty Park.

“Whilst it is only six months since completion, the restoration works at this point in time have been very successful, however a true guide will be able to be ascertained after a full 12-month period.

“At present the lakes are still full, the water quality is good, and the new plantings are going very well.”

Mr Del Marco says the loss of a jarrah near the treatment train was one downside of the works.

It was one of only a handful of native trees in the park, and the most significant at more than 100 years of age.

Mr Giorgi says every effort was made to protect the tree, but too many surface roots had been damaged during installation.

by DAVID BELL

Vincent council’s valuable collection of “highly significant” historic bottles will be handed to the WA museum instead of being split up and sold off to private collectors.

Some 3337 glass, ceramic and stoneware bottles, jars and vases were recovered from the old Perth and Fremantle Bottle Exchange Company site in 2001. The company operated from 1905 to 1974 and Robertson Park now stands on the site.

Archaeologist Stuart Rapley analysed the artefacts and says some bottles are a century old and the more rare items can fetch up to $1000 each.

After being uncovered the bottles sat in the council’s Osborne Park depot for a decade.

The council’s history advisory group engaged a local bottle collector for advice. He had a few recommendations including “partially dispos[ing] of the collection, including the selling of the intact bottles”.

Mr Rapley opposed that and recommended the entire collection be offered to the WA museum, a plan the council endorsed this week.

The museum is reportedly stoked: Its heritage assessment states the bottles are “a very important reference collection, a research tool for analysts wanting to understand the nature of change and continuity in this type of manufacturing industry in WA.

“No such reference collection currently exists in the state collections.”

Leftover fragments of broken bottles will be kept to work into sculptures or other interpretation artworks for any new developments at the old bottle yard site.

The council will also be able to borrow back some of the bottles for its own historical displays.

Cr Matt Buckels says “it’s good to know [the collection] won’t disappear into a box, like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

by DAVID BELL

As promised the Mary Street Bakery has replaced a mural that it painted over.

The original work by local artists Konfucius, Destroy and Idle was painted over when new owners took over the old Soto Espresso building.

“It’s just not going to work with what we’re doing there,” one of the new owners Paul Aron said of the artwork at the time.

The new work is by Sydney-based Anthony Lister whose work has been exhibited across the UK and Europe and in a disused sex shop in Sydney.

The public artwork proposed for the controversial Albert North Perth office/unit development is proving just as contentious as the building itself.

Sixteen of 20 submissions about the project oppose the giant lamp artwork by Robin Yakinthou designed for installation next to the neighbouring school.

“Sculpture is derivative and not acceptable, would prefer a tree,” one submitter said.

“The artwork looks very unsightly, can the developer please choose a better artwork?” another asked.

“Disappointing,” was another comment, and “lacks relevance to the area.”

Vincent’s councillors are also split: “I find it a very uninspiring piece of artwork,” new deputy mayor Ros Harley says.

“The piece itself would do well in another area, perhaps outside a library, but for that particular site they could do better.”

“I think a ‘60s lamp doesn’t capture either the school or the contemporary building,” mayor John Carey says.

“I actually don’t mind the artwork,” Cr Matt Buckels contended.

While acknowledging it was reminiscent of an Ikea catalogue he said, “I don’t think it’s hideous”.

The council voted to ask the artist to devise something more suitable for the area.

by DAVID BELL

A facelift of Oxford Street reserve will be shelved until a cheaper option can be found.

Vincent council had planned to spend about $1 million on the Leederville park’s revamp but the cheapest tender, from Earthcare Landscapes, clocked in at $1.33 million.

The council considered ponying up the extra $300,000 but at the eleventh hour Earthcare Landscapes pulled its tender, saying it had miscalculated and couldn’t do the job for that price.

The next cheapest option was Civcon at $1.6m, so the council tapped the mat. The newly sworn in council this week voted for a “re-scoping of the project to enable the total cost estimate to fall within the current budget allocation”. Translation: “Something less fancy and cheaper.”

by DAVID BELL

TARTS, Northbridge

by JENNY D’ANGER:

How to have a 15-minute orgasm using nothing but an apple assaulted my eyes during a Google search for the name of a local raw food company.

I passed on the notion and instead rang Tarts Cafe, where staff reminded me the company I was looking for was called Rawgasm (it supplies treats to the cafe).

Fruit and sex have long had a symbiotic relationship so it’s apt that Tarts Cafe and Gourmet Food and Gifts is found in Lake Street, Northbridge, once a hangout for prostitutes.

“My, how times have changed,” I thought, somewhat primly, driving past funky eateries and shops on my way there.

It’s apparently called Tarts not because of the streetwalkers but because it’s so tempting—uhhh huh—and tempted I was, to eat more than I should, and to buy things I didn’t really need.

Owner John Vallini and partner Sandra took over the place seven years ago introducing a more varied menu that includes a terrific range of vegetarian and vegan dishes.

I was hoping my lunch companion would go for something meaty, in the interests of carnivorous readers, but alas he opted for a savoury muffin: They’re homemade, the size of a Valiant’s hubcap and crammed with spinach and chunks of fetta.

“Light, fluffy and delicious,” was the verdict.

For meat eaters there’s plenty of choice, including a steak sandwich ($19.90) with scotch fillet, baconnaise (dunno, you’ll have to ask, sounds smoky) sauce, pesto tomato, caramelised onion, served with salad. Chips are an optional extra for $2.50 more.

Or, there’s the slow-cooked beef cheeks ($26), with asparagus and potato croquettes, and topped with a fried egg.

My eye was caught by the roast tower ($23.90), a stack of char-grilled vegetables, topped with thick house-made hommus (so good and so unusual I had to verify it was just hommus) and a couple of perfectly cooked asparagus spears that were warm and crunchy.

A very good coffee washed down a rich brownie ($4.90) from Rawgasm while my lunch partner downed a second cappuccino and hoed into a strawberry tart ($6.90) that was groaning with strawberries and served with a rich, thick cream.

All but the Rawgasm cakes are made on the premises.

Like Dr Who’s Tardis, Tarts is much bigger than it appears from the street.

Along with pavement seating there’s a “board room”, “lounge room” a limestone-walled cellar for private functions and a delightful garden setting at the rear.

SEE THE MENU HERE

MAKE A BOOKING HERE

Tarts Cafe and Gourmet Food and Gifts
212 Lake Street, Northbridge
Phone 9328 6607
Open 7 days, 7am to 3.30pm and for dinner Tues–Fri