Perth Voice Interactive

The soaring popularity of Bikram Yoga in North Perth is getting motorists steamed up.

Every afternoon is a nightmare on Chelmsford Road and Leake Street, with motorists squeezing between parked vehicles that belong to participants of the sweaty pursuit. In some cases there’s just centimetres of clearance between parked and passing cars.

Local Ross Field says it’s common to find snapped-off wing mirrors littering the street. Restricting one side of the road for residents-only parking would help, he says.

“A one-hour parking limit would alleviate a lot of problems,” Vincent council west ward candidate Katrina Montaut reckons.

Cr Josh Topelberg—who’s recontesting west ward—lives nearby and says he avoids Chelmsford Road when taking his son for a bike ride: “It’s a daily problem… pretty much since Bikram Yoga opened,” he says.

A one-hour limit would have to extend to surrounding streets, otherwise it would just shift the problem. He’d prefer to see people park 200m away in the Dorrien Gardens carpark. He says the council should have limited the studio to a 12-month trial when it first approved the business: “It’s a good lesson for councillors: If you’re not sure, a time-limited approval is the way to go.”

The council has trialled a two-hour parking limit, but as classes are 90 minutes it’s done little to alleviate pressure on the street.

Bikram Yoga’s website pleads its customers to “not park on Chelmsford Road or Leake Street”.

“If you park on Chelmsford or Leake Streets, you will be asked to move your car!” it says. In the past, announcements were made before class for customers to move vehicles. When the Voice dropped by Tuesday afternoon, most drivers parking cars were carrying gym mats.

by DAVID BELL

“Stuff Perth and whether it wants all of us or not,” says former Vincent deputy mayor Ian Ker.

He believes Perth city council’s rejection of Vincent’s request to be swallowed whole is a gift that should not be overlooked.

The Mt Lawley resident, an inaugural Vincent councillor who retired in 2009 after 14 years’ service, is urging electors to vote for Question 2 in the plebiscite—against abolishing the city, and keeping it as a municipality.

That vote would be a poke in the eye to premier Colin Barnett whose council reforms are designed to stamp out small municipalities like Vincent.

Mr Ker says Vincent has proven itself to be a viable council that is in tune with its community.

“[In Perth] it’s all about the bureaucrats and a small number of council members,” he says in this week’s Voice Mail (page 4).

He praised acting Vincent mayor John Carey for challenging Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi’s “arrogant assertion” Vincent had spent too much time organising rallies and not enough on book-keeping (Voice, September 5, 2013).

“I guess that sums up the difference between Vincent and Perth—our diversity enables us to multi-task, whereas Perth is all about big business.

“Be warned, members of the Vincent community, this is the sort of approach you’ll get to community involvement if we end up in the City of Perth. “Vote to retain Vincent in the plebiscite.”

Meanwhile, Cr Carey says “self-interest” was behind Perth city council’s rejection of Vincent’s suburbs in its submission to the Barnett government.

“This is about a fear from City of Perth about having 22,000 extra voters in their system, that they’ll actually have to engage with residents, they’ll actually have to respond, they might have to doorknock,” he mocked.

“What’s the impact of 22,000 voters into their electorate? It’s going to shake things up, they’re not going to like it.”

by DAVID BELL

Perth’s economy and its residents’ health will suffer if we don’t make our city more walkable, city planner Jeff Speck says.

The US planner is in town for his public forum The Walkability Mandate, where he’ll argue our health, wealth and impact on the environment will improve by having a more walkable city.

“Auto-centric development is destructive to our economy, our health and our planet,” he told the Voice via email.

“This is my first trip to Perth but I know that, generally, Australian cites are more walkable and have better transportation than American cities, but the new Australian suburbs are just as bad as ours, if not worse.

“It’s like you’ve chosen the worst thing that America ever invented and copied it whole-hog.

“Couldn’t you copy something better, like turducken (a turkey stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a duck and deep-fried)?” he laughed.

He says in the US the time people spend driving has doubled since the 1970s, and so has the percentage of income the average American spends on travel.

Obesity and asthma are strongly linked to less walking and more driving. And people in suburbs who frequently drive release far more carbon than inner-city dwellers who walk to work.

Mr Speck says city planners can improve walkability by making streets more pedestrian-friendly instead of having walkers compete with cars whizzing past: Street-parking to separate the pavement from traffic helps, and narrowing streets and having fewer lanes can help combat speeding.

Perth’s cycling network is also notoriously gap-ridden, something that’ll need to be patched, Mr Speck says.

The Walkability Mandate is October 16 at the state theatre, bookings through ticketek.

by DAVID BELL

Stirling city councillor Elizabeth Re has lost an appeal to overturn her sacking as a senior public servant.

An appeals board found that emails were evidence of a conspiracy to cause damage to and embarrass her employer, the office of the inspector of custodial services. Cr Re was sacked on December 21 following the discovery of emails between herself and WA corrective services officer Rozlyn Marshall.

In one, dated October 6, 2011, Ms Marshall tells Cr Re, “there needs to be a well crafted parliamentary question written up that will make the press take notice. They are the ones who will ask the hard questions about wasting tax payer funds”.

Cr Re replies, “If you can think of a good one that will make DCS [department of corrective services] look good and OICS not then let me know and I will see who I can give it to”.

The Public Services Appeal Board ruled, “the exchange evidences both Ms Marshall and Ms Re conspiring to cause damage to and embarrass the inspector, both in the parliament and in the media.

“This is the organisation that was paying Ms Re’s substantial salary.

“It is difficult to imagine a more serious breach of the implied obligation of fidelity and good faith that Ms Re owed to her employer.”

Cr Re told the board she’d been dissatisfied with her position and duties being downgraded. She conceded the emails amounted to misconduct, but argued they warranted a reprimand, not a dismissal.

The board disagreed: “In many respects, this is a remarkable exchange,” it ruled.

“This exchange must also be viewed in the context of the obvious necessity for there to be a professional and ‘arms’ length’ relationship between the two organisations.

“This conduct alone, in our view, taken in isolation from all of the other acts of misconduct, would warrant in itself, the employer summarily dismissing Ms Re for serious misconduct.”

The Voice contacted Cr Re for comment, but she didn’t get back to us.

Cr Re has worked in various WA government departments since 1982. She spent most of her career at the WA health department between 1994 and 2007. In 2011, the WA local government standards panel ordered Cr Re—a veteran councillor and WA president of the australian local government women’s association—to publicly apologise to two councillors for publicly pointing out the way they’d voted.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

Mother Nature propelled Bayswater City Soccer Club to its first-ever state league title and treble last Saturday in front of 2700 fans at Mt Hawthorn’s Litis Stadium.

Baysy was trailing 1-0 at halftime, but after a rousing team talk from coach Chris Coyne, the boys scored twice against Stirling Lions to win the league grand final.

“The wind was so strong in the first half that our back four had dropped too deep and we struggled to get the ball forward at all,” he says. “When we won the ball back we were too far away from their goal to hurt them. So in the second half, with the wind at our backs, we pressed forward as high as we could and caused them all sorts of problems.”

The Black and Blues have now completed the treble, winning the Night Series, Cool Ridge Cup and the state league.

Baysy will now play Adelaide in the interstate play offs.

“We were quite sloppy in our approach to a lot of things when I first took over as coach,” says Coyne, a former defender with the Socceroos. “But I like to think I’ve instilled a more professional approach and culture at the club.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

Open House Perth is back after overwhelming numbers turned up to tour the backstages of Perth’s iconic buildings last year.

Architect Carly Barrett based the Perth tours on a similar model from London, and almost 50,000 people went on the free tours through 56 destinations its first year in 2012.

Liam Gobbert is the tour guide for Council House, and will be showing people around the rarely-seen corridors of the capital’s seat of power.

He says the building has an interesting tale behind it: Built in 1963, staff were moved out in the 1990s so asbestos could be removed, and then there were plans to pull it down.

“It was saved by campaigning,” says Mr Gobbert, a committee member with planning thinktank Future Perth.

Also a guide in the inaugural year, Mr Gobbert says the tours are so popular because of “the allure of the unknown”. “It was the mystique about it: Venturing into the unknown, buildings that you see and walk past every day. It’s almost taboo.”

It’s on across November 2 and 3 and locations this year include the state theatre, Central Park, QV1, Gordon Stephenson House and the WA Ballet Centre.

Head to http://www.openhouseperth.net for all the info on the tours. They’re all free, but some fill up quickly and ballots are drawn to select spots for the most popular drawcards.

by DAVID BELL

A redeveloped $3.5 million Maylands Peninsula Tavern—which includes a bigger Dan Murphy’s liquor barn—looks set to be approved despite the opposition of Bayswater city council, hundreds of ratepayers, the local MP and a planning assessment panel.

The latest version of the Railway Parade pub and bottleshop proposal includes a 942sqm Dan Murphy’s outlet, courtyards and family-style bistro, 95 car bays and two-storey offices above the liquor store.

The store is 199sqm bigger than specified in the initial application.

The bottleshop element proved unpopular with both the council and Maylands Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association, which say access to cheap grog contributes to anti-social problems throughout the district.

The council and the local development assessment panel have already rejected the tavern proposal on planning grounds but the developer appealed to the unelected but powerful state administrative tribunal. The SAT has directed the local DAP to reconsider its rejection.

Maylands Labor MP Lisa Baker, who will attend the DAP hearing this week, says access to cheap alcohol is bad for the community and nearby agencies such as Shopfront, Autumn Centre and 55 Central, whose services tackle the impacts of alcoholism. “There is no doubt Woolworths has heard community outcry that a massive ‘lowest liquor guarantee’ vendor is unwelcome in Maylands,” she says.

But despite the “clear community concern” the grocery and liquor giant seems intent on ramming its application through.

“The latest proposal from Woolworths includes an even bigger discount liquor store and comes after multiple rounds of mediation.”

Ratepayers and residents association president Roger Tomlins says the tavern could lead to a raft of competitors wanting to muscle in for their slice of market share.

“This area has 15 liquor outlets within a 2km radius and four centres supporting people with alcohol problems,” he wrote.

“We feel that should this development be approved then it will set a precedent and Coles will put forward a new development proposal for its Guildford Road site to include a modified First Choice discounted liquor store.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

BLOOD is thicker than water, even amongst blue-blooded members of the Liberal party.

Seeking re-election to Lawley ward, which he’s held for 20 years, Cr Rod Willox was stunned to discover Professor Ray Wills had nominated to run against him.

Prof Wills is the brother of the Liberals’ Perth division president Fay Duda—and she is managing her brother’s election campaign.

“I’ve been a Liberal party member for around 40 years and have known and been on good terms with Fay for ages,” Cr Willox told the Voice.

“So I was very disappointed when I found out she was managing her brother’s campaign and he was running against me. I appreciate they are brother and sister, but where’s the party loyalty?”

Prof Wills works with his sister as a lobbyist and sustainability advisor at Duda & Wills and says he is not a member of any political party.

“I have voted for Rod in previous campaigns and respect what he has done for the community, but it’s time for a change, ” he says. “My sister is helping to manage my campaign and has authorised my flyers, but me standing has nothing to do with the Liberal party at all.

“In my job you have to do deal with people from all sides of politics and be politically unaligned.”

Prof Wills, 51, is spruiking sustainable public transport, including a proposed light rail route from Mirrabooka to Perth’s CBD.

A former board member of the Stirling city centre alliance, he is also keen on enhancing parks, cycleways and recreational areas in Lawley ward.

“Using my experience in sustainability and planning, I would like to make sure that Stirling gets the best light rail system possible,” the Menora resident says.

Prof Wills has a PhD in ecology and in 2011 was recognised by Singapore-based ABC Carbon as one of the Top 100 global leaders in sustainability.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

It’s back to square one for a catalina flying boat business, with the Swan River Trust ordering it to reapply for permission to land seaplanes on the river.

SRT environment officer Jacey Mills this week wrote to Catalina Airlines stating its application had to be reconsidered—a year after the original application was lodged—because the proposed landing site had been shifted from east to west of the Narrows. “As this represents a considerable amendment to the initial application, the original referral agencies have been asked to comment on the new landing location,” she says.

But Catalina Airlines only shifted from the South Perth waters to near the old brewery because it was suggested by South Perth Liberal MP John McGrath during the consultation phase of its original application.

“We have moved it [as asked], so why do we need to reapply,” asks Catalina Airlines chief Mack McCormack.

“This means any of my competitors who apply now will be in front of us.”

To make matters worse, the Trust is demanding to see more information on seaplane noise before approving a training run that’s scheduled for next week.

Ms Mills says a separate detailed application is needed for the training run and “it is unlikely the application will be assessed before 12 October”.

Ms McCormack says he’s waited nearly two years for the SRT to make up its mind.

Angry

“It could take another year,” he says, clearly angry. “I have to bring in lawyers, this is getting ridiculous.”

He says the delays have cost him a potential $4 million in turnover and put at risk what he considers to be a major WA tourism attraction.

The SRT says this week it cannot comment on, “the particulars of an on-going application”, having last week told the Voice it is considering an application for a 12-month trial period.

The Trust is guided by its own policy on floatplanes, which states after having dealt with a number of similar applications, “each application has been refused on the basis of amenity and conflict with other river and foreshore activities”.

Mr McCormack says the policy is a sham given seaplanes on the Swan are an activity approved by the WA government. Other states also allow it.

He is now asking WA enivoronment minister Albert Jacob if there’s any point reapplying to what will soon be a defunct body, whose duties are being absorbed into a new WA parks and wildlife department.

“We have completed all necessary documentation,” he writes. “However, the SRT keeps asking us to re-apply with a new application. We believe this is a stalling tactic as clearly the SRT will cease to exist in the not too distant future.”

Catalina Airlines wants to operate two planes to fly passengers to Rottnest, the Abrolhos islands off Geraldton, Mandurah, Margaret River and other sightseeing, diving and snorkelling destinations.

Mr McCormack notes the SRT gave Perth city council approval in January 2011 to use the catalinas for a special airshow on Australia Day—a year before he lodged his application.

by CARMELO AMALFI