Special reports by Stephen Pollock

Liberal revolts

A Liberal party branch president has condemned the Barnett government over forced council mergers, saying it “lied to the voters of Mt Lawley and Inglewood”.
Former Stirling city councillor Paul Collins, who’d sought preselection as a state election candidate, says the merger will be “an absolute disaster for Mt Lawley and Perth heritage in general”.
Under the Barnett Merger the vast majority of Mt Lawley and all of Inglewood will be gobbled up by a Bayswater-Bassendean super-council.
“The Barnett government lied to the voters of Mt Lawley and Inglewood on forced amalgamations and is now putting at risk the area’s unique heritage character and low density zonings,” Mr Collins fumed.
Mount Lawley Liberal MP Michael Sutherland however is merely expressing “disappointment” and is steering clear of more overt criticism.
“I asked the local government minister for the whole of Mt Lawley to be put into Stirling,” he says.
“ It is now in three councils Bayswater, Stirling and Perth. My main concern is that the heritage of Mt Lawley is preserved.”
Hip to be square
Stirling mayor David Boothman has hit back at Alannah MacTiernan’s claim his city is a daggy ‘70s disco no-one wants to go to.
Under the Barnett Merger, swathes of Mt Hawthorn and North Perth are to become part of Stirling.
The Vincent mayor wanted all her doomed municipality sucked into a bigger Perth, not divvied up into a “sprawling urban shire”.
“New residents from Vincent will enjoy more services and pay lower rates,” Cr Boothman says. “In the customer satisfaction surveys, Stirling has always appeared at the higher end of the scale.
“So, to say nobody wants to live here is absolute piffle.”
In the 2013/14 budget, Vincent rates went up 3.92 per cent and Stirling’s 3.495.

Pool whammy for Stirling

Stirling ratepayers could face a rates hike under forced council mergers, with the new boundaries resulting in an expected $20 million loss in rates.
Mayor David Boothman says the Barnett Merger could also derail several key projects, including the long-awaited Scarborough Beach redevelopment. The changes see Stirling swallow half of Vincent but lose the vast majority of Mt Lawley, all of Inglewood and parts of Dianella.
“The changes could be in the order of a $20 million loss in rates,” Cr Boothman says. “We will now need to reassess all projects planned such as the redevelopment of Scarborough Beach where the city was matching the $30 million committed by the state’s contribution. We are seriously concerned we will be losing what is a debt-free aquatic facility in the Terry Tyzack Aquatic Centre and, in its place, inherit Beatty Park which has a $15 million debt attached.
“Realistically, we will need to revise our 10-year financial plan and reprioritise.”

The vast majority of Mt Lawley and all of Inglewood will shift from Stirling and Vincent into a merged Bayswater-Bassendean super-council.

No-one saw it coming and it’s sending shockwaves through the leafy suburbs. Under premier Colin Barnett’s plan, only a tiny sliver of Mt Lawley spills the border, shared between Stirling and Perth.

Aghast Mt Lawley Society president Bruce Wooldridge says heritage is the big loser.

Last year Stirling council won an award for outstanding heritage practices by a local government and the council had established heritage protection areas in Mt Lawley, Menora and Inglewood.

“Stirling city council has been outstanding in recent years in demonstrating a strong approach to the retention of character in these areas,” he says.

“It is not a coincidence that Mt Lawley has the best-preserved federation era housing in Australia, as it takes a willingness and ongoing commitment by council to ensure that this is achieved.

“The local community has not been listened to. It continues to be our—and the overwhelming majority of local residents— preferred option that there be no change in local government boundaries for Mount Lawley, Inglewood and Menora.”

He notes Bayswater city council does not have a heritage protection area.

Stirling mayor David Boothman is concerned the council’s hard work preserving its streetscapes could be for naught: “It is a grave concern that such award-winning work with regards to the heritage protection of Mt Lawley has been largely ignored,” he says.

The new Bayswater/Bassendean council will extend west to Alexander Drive and east to Reid Highway.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

Drunk planning students could do a better job at drawing the new borders between Perth and Stirling says urban planner Matt Buckels.

“If you got a bunch of average first-year planning students and got them drunk and asked them to rearrange the Perth/Vincent border I doubt they would do as bad a job,” says the Vincent city councillor, who relayed his comments from his overseas holiday.

“Then again they’d still be better qualified and able than the political advisors and staffers who cobbled this hack job together.”

Cr Dudley Maier says when he’d heard Vincent was going to Stirling, “I thought it was the end of the world. You get less for murder.” When he saw the final map and, “realised I would be in the city of Perth I yelled out ‘yippee’. But I stopped and I thought why do I feel that way?

“Partly it’s about the size, I think Vincent being small is much better than Stirling.”

He says if someone phones up complaining about a broken footpath, technical services chief Rick Lotznicker knows instantly which street they’re talking about.

“In Stirling they’d say ‘which suburb is that in?’ They wouldn’t have a clue.”

“It’s ridiculous,” mayor Alannah MacTiernan said shortly after walking out of the Cockburn meeting with WA local government minister Tony Simpson.

“We support the idea of local government reform, [but] we’re an inner-city community, just put us back in with the City of Perth.
“The arguments that are being used, that you can’t have suburbs in the city, is just ridiculous.
“When you look at very successful councils the City of Melbourne has 11 suburbs attached to it.

“Our suburbs are inner-city and will complement the CBD.”

Most councillors said they’d prefer to keep Vincent as is but conceded that argument was lost with the premier.

CEO John Giorgi—the only CEO Vincent has had—said, “this is a sad day for Vincent, this is a sad day for local government”. The merger between Bassendean and Bayswater was, “a marriage doomed to fail… they’re cat and dog,” he said.

Ms MacTiernan condemned the premier for breaking a firm pre-election promise not to force council mergers. Councils were told if they didn’t volunteer they’d be overridden and the government is even moving to rub out a clause in legislation that allows locals to oppose mergers with a referendum.

Perth Liberal MP Eleni Evangel is on holiday but sent a staffer to the packed Vincent meeting to say she would “fight for a united inner-city Vincent”.

by DAVID BELL

Special reports by David Bell

Traders lament loss of Vincent

‘I think we might get lost in a bigger council’

Businesses that are to shift from Vincent to Stirling council are worried their concerns will go unheeded by the bigger, more corporate council.
Dean Schulze runs the Beaufort Street 24-hour chemist.
“I’m greatly concerned,” he says. “I was around when they split the City of Perth up and formed the smaller councils.
“That’s been a great boon for Vincent because Vincent had a great affinity for the area and understood the area.
“It’s like the old saying: Small is beautiful. I think because they were smaller they were able to relate better to the unique character of the area.”
Alex Trakilovic runs Mt Lawley’s Caffissimo: “I’m just afraid it’s going to get bigger, and that things will not be handled in a timely manner,” he says.
“Vincent, they’re really professional. They really do everything in a short period of time.
“I’m afraid it’s going to get really big and there’s going to be less person-to-person contact.”
“I think we might get lost in a bigger council,” chemist Bruce Affleck agrees.
Last week Beaufort Street Network chair John Carey, also a Vincent city councillor, had initially said the top half of Mount Lawley going to Stirling was the “worst-case scenario” for the trading hubs.
He’s had to revise that, as an “even worse” plan has emerged: Mount Lawley split between three councils, with most marching off to Bayswater.
“Here we have a town centre that people love being divided into three councils.
“How does that accord with the premier’s claim of cutting bureaucracy?”

Angry locals pack public gallery

‘tip of the iceberg’

Furious locals packed Vincent’s public gallery Tuesday night, opposing the premier’s plan to divide their council between bigger Perth and Stirling councils.
It was standing room only for the impromptu crisis meeting, held just hours after WA local government minister Tony Simpson announced everything north of Vincent Street would go to Stirling. Most of Mt Lawley is off to Bayswater, the rest to Perth.
Vincent will cease to exist, just 19 years after it was created.
The council is resigned to ceasing to be, but wants to be fully integrated into the bigger capital.
It unanimously passed a motion to start a social media campaign with petitions, town hall meetings and advertising to push for changes.
A procession of passionate locals got to their feet to tell councillors they didn’t want to live in suburban Stirling, which they said had little understanding of inner-city issues.
Peter Fitzgerald said, “it strikes me that this is something that’s been arrived at by a group of people who don’t really understand Vincent as a community and hasn’t necessarily taken the time to come out and see us and understand who we are and what’s important to us.
“I’m not opposed to an amalgamation but I do think we should amalgamate as one, as a single community with the city of Perth.”
Another local said, “Vincent looks after us well”. She used to live in Stirling but says “we were ignored” by the bigger council.
“Stirling are so distant, they’re almost like a stranger.”
Cr Dudley Maier said those at the meeting were “just the tip of the iceberg” and he suspected sentiment opposing the split was widespread.

Bayswater mayor Terry Kenyon is one of the few WA mayors happy with the Barnett Merger.

His council will merge with Bassendean and the new boundaries expand westward to Alexander Drive—rolling in all of Inglewood and most of Mt Lawley—and eastward to Reid highway, taking Noranda.

Cr Kenyon says Morley will become the strategic heart of the new council.

“This is good news and exactly what the city asked for as an outcome, so it is gratifying that the state government listened,” he beamed.

“The merger will see the creation of a larger, more viable local government.

“During the two-year amalgamation process and afterwards, our focus will be on continuing to provide excellent services to our residents.”

Bayswater City Residents’ Association president Tony Green says the merger is logical and he’s pleased to see Lightning Swamp bushland included in the new council.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

A Mount Lawley culture-vulture will ride from Perth to Sydney to raise funds for Parkinson’s research.

Lucy Harper, a curator at the WA art gallery, is ditching her fusty monographs for a bike and will spend a month cycling 4300km across the Nullarbor.

Her dad Bruce was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 24 years ago, aged 50: “He says he would like just 20 minutes without Parkinson’s—at times it’s very sad.”

Harper, 40, will cycle up to 155km every day and spend some nights sleeping in a tent in the desert.

“Up until last year I was a toddle-round-the-river cyclist,” she says. So I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym and cycling round the Swan Hills and Denmark to get ready.”

Harper hopes to raise $20,000 towards research. She leaves August 7.

“I’m using my old, trusty leather saddle—so hopefully I won’t get a sore bum,” she says.

To sponsor Lucy Harper head to http://www.cycling4parkinsons.com. 

 

ALANNAH MacTIERNAN says her Liberal opponent Darryl Moore may be too delicate for the hard knocks of politics.

Darryl Moore was a no-show for two live debates with the Vincent mayor, who is Labor’s federal candidate for Perth, and he continually ducks media questions.

He point-blank refused to appear with Ms MacTiernan on 6PR Drive last Friday, avoiding a golden opportunity to press the case for his election.

He’d earlier called in sick for an on-air tussle on ABC’s 7.30 program, sending in his place Liberal senator Mathias Cormann—who is believed to be running his campaign.

“This isn’t a job for the faint-hearted,” Ms MacTiernan says.

“Some people just aren’t cut out for the rigours of public life.

“I believe 6PR offered him a series of alternative times and dates, but he declined them all.”

The Voice contacted 6PR but didn’t hear back.

We phoned Mr Moore for comment but instead received a call back from Liberal media minder Joey Armenti, who asked us to ask him the questions, which he would put to Mr Moore, and then get back to us with an answer.

Later, we received a written response about Mr Moore being more interested in door-knocking than debating his high-profile Labor opponent.

“Often politicians are seen as talking heads on the TV or faceless voices on the radio talking at people rather than listening and meeting face to face, one on one,” the statement read.

On other occasions, the Voice has asked Mr Moore to nominate local issues he considers the most pressing. In reply, he’s told us he must consult with his campaign team, before replying with approved party lines about stopping boats and the carbon tax.

Ms MacTiernan—who hopes to replace retiring Labor incumbent Stephen Smith—says she’s itching to participate in a free-wheeling town hall-style debate with Mr Moore, saying, “let’s get it on!”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

An anti-457 visas billboard has been erected on the building that houses the campaign office of federal Perth Liberal candidate Darryl Moore, a vocal supporter of the 457 scheme.

The CFMEU wants employers to put more energy into training local apprentices, rather than going overseas for skilled labour.

The Voice rang Mr Moore to ask him if he’d seen the billboard, and what he thought of it: “Yes, of course I’ve seen it,” he replied, testily. “My stand on the 457 issue is exactly the same as the Liberal party.”

He then went on to claim the Voice and other media outlets had “twisted” his words last week regarding his stance on equal marriage (he opposes it).

The Australian Marriage Equality lobby’s Brian Greig is pushing Mr Moore to reveal his stance on a conscience vote, which could be critical post-election in the event Mr Moore wins Perth and Tony Abbott takes the country: “That was twisted and contorted by both [Greig], and you, and the West Australian,” Mr Moore said.  “You gave me a very unfair run and you didn’t encourage me to speak to you in a civil and cordial manner. I think it was very unfair reporting of you.” As the Voice was asking him how we’d twisted his words, he said he’d issue a media release, and then hung up.

by DAVID BELL

 

Vincent locals are mobilising to save their heritage neighbourhoods as WA government changes came into effect yesterday, Friday August 2, allowing 240sqm blocks to subdivide.

The changes affect R80-zoned blocks, meaning more than 550 properties in Vincent could now be split in what’s expected to lead to a developer stampede.

Marie Slyth has long-fought to preserve the streetscape around the Cleaver Precinct and says the change is a huge threat to what’s left of the area’s century-old housing stock.

She’s written to WA heritage minister Albert Jacob asking that small historic lots be excluded from the changes.

The South Vincent Precinct Group was to discuss the changes at a crisis meeting August 1.

“We live in an area which is a very special pocket of inner-city cottages,” secretary Michelle Blakeley wrote to members.

“These cottages are under threat of being demolished for development.

“Do we want streets lined with garage doors as you see in East Perth?”

Vincent mayor Alannah MacTiernan says the changes had been sprung on the council at very short notice. She says the WA planning commission had been “very tight-lipped” about whether the changes would affect Vincent, and had only released details in June.

Ms MacTiernan, a former WA Labor planning minister, urges locals to attend a forum today, Saturday August 3, at 2pm at Vincent HQ on 1Loftus Street.

The WAPC was also invited but at the time of going to print there was no word on whether it would be sending a representative.

by DAVID BELL