Perth Voice Interactive

VINCENT mayor Alannah MacTiernan says her own daughter was accosted in Highgate by men looking for paid sex.

She revealed the information at a council meeting that decided to proceed with a plan to use the council website to name and shame people convicted of soliciting street-walkers within Vincent boundaries.

“This is not about revenge, and the council is certainly not taking a moralistic view—there are plenty of brothels in the area,” Ms MacTiernan says.

“This is about protecting female residents in the area—we’ve had girls as young as 14 running to us crying after being accosted.

“In the past [around 2000] it has happened to my daughter.”

Council CEO John Giorgi says the names of those convicted are available on publicly available court listings and the council has advice that re-publishing that information is legally sound.

Names will stay on the website for six months and the policy will be renewed in a year.

Cr Ros Harley fears the families of those outed as kerb-crawlers may suffer.

“We don’t want the sins of the father passed on to the family,” she says.

“The humiliation could be passed on to the wives and kids at school who are innocent parties.”

Ms MacTiernan says the move might actually save wives and partners from being exposed to sexually transmitted disease.

“Some street prostitutes are prepared to have unprotected sex for $150,” she says. “The potential impact on a partner’s health is enormous, they have a right to know.”

Cr John Carey wants to go a step further, sending letters to the addresses of cars that are seen prowling the area, and naming and shaming in newspaper ads and on electronic billboards.

Mr Giorgi fears those moves could leave the council open to legal action.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE Crea family has lived on Vincent Street for almost 50 years and is happy to see new public art on their street.

Rosaria and Pasquale moved into their house in 1964.

Originally from Italy, Mr Crea came to Australia first to find work on the railroad, and a few years later brought his wife out.

They’ve seen a lot of changes to the street in their time, and remember when there was only one shop within walking distance on Beaufort Street, a far cry from the retail strip that exists today.

The newest change to the street: A naked bronze sculpture titled Dog and Rabbit on a Bike on the corner of Beaufort Street by NSW artists Gillie and Marc, unveiled last Wednesday.

The nudey animals were drawing a lot of comments when the Voice dropped by on Friday, with many passers-by stopping for photos with the exposed anthropomorphs.

Mrs Crea blushed when she first saw them but then said the nude statues were just “like in Italy”.

Do they need clothes? we asked. “Nooo!” she laughed.

Nearby business owner Payam Golestani was less certain. The Priority 1 real estate director recalled that when he was a kid he liked to climb on statues but he would think twice before letting children sit anywhere near the dog’s lipstick. He’s previously been critical of council spends on art, when he says there are other priorities like bus stop seats.

“I like it, I just don’t think it should be nude,” colleague Jennifer Noyes says. “It needs some jocks or boxer shorts on!”

Mount Lawley Liberal MP Michael Sutherland wandered south from his domain to have a peek and said it was an “interesting and engaging” piece. He wants Stirling city council to continue the street art up its end of Beaufort Street.

“My only fear is that it will be vandalised due to the way it has been fixed to the pavement,” he says, referring to narrow fixtures into bricks.

“There have been some wanton acts of vandalism to other pieces in the area recently.”

While Mr Sutherland fears the sculpture might go walkabout, the Creas say they’re on the street to stay. Real estate agents often drop by offering free quotes and urging them to sell, but Mrs Crea says with her church just across the road and all the shops she needs within walking distance, she’ll never sell.

by DAVID BELL and STEPHEN POLLOCK

THE Public Transport Authority has downed tools after been caught doing railworks in East Perth without planning approval or going through consultation.

Local residents were incensed when the PTA started expanding the sidings at Claisebrook—behind their houses—without any community consultation.

PTA spokesperson David Hynes says the PTA had thought it owned the land so approval wasn’t required.

“This was our understanding at the time—we have since found that we must, in fact, obtain planning approvals from the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority to make changes at the site.

“All work on the site has now stopped while we seek approval from the MRA, and senior representatives of the PTA have met the residents to discuss their concerns.

“As part of the MRA process residents will be able to make submissions.”

Tully Road Action Group has submitted a 50-signature petition to Perth city council with concerns about the expansion, which backs onto Tully Road and Stokes Way.

“Our main concerns are with visual and noise pollution and the loss of our nature buffer,” says TRAG spokesperson Peter Kroll.

“There will be extra train carriages shunting back and forward and the potential for the loss of mature trees and shrubs, which form a natural sound barrier.”

“Under the expansion, the number of sidings will be increased from two to five and it will extend up to Victory Terrace.”

Mr Hynes says the PTA will carry out an independent noise assessment.

“We had already engaged an environmental consultant at the time the residents raised their concerns, and it was our intent that we would be guided by the report as to what measures could be taken to mitigate possible noise impacts.

“A high noise wall had always been contemplated.”

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

“PARKLETS” are set to spring up across Vincent.

The council has approved a nine-month installation of the makeshift parking-bay cafes, following a successful trial on the Oxford Street strip.

Businesses located along sections of Scarborough Beach, Chelmsford and Raglan Roads and Oxford, William, Angove, Brisbane and Bulwer Streets will be invited to plonk a parklet in front of their premises.

Oxford Street will be given priority.

Cr Ros Harley says the prototype on-road cafe was well received. “It created a great vibe down there and was very popular,” she says.

Other cafe locations will be considered in September.

The council will also investigate installing fixed-bench seating to the on-road cafes.

Cr John Carey says the Beaufort Street Network is looking into creating its own parklet model.

The concept, which originated in San Francisco in 2010, has spread to several other US cities, including New York and Los Angeles and was recently adopted by Fremantle.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

AFTER years of delays Hyde Park’s restoration is almost finished.

Last Friday federal Perth Labor MP Stephen Smith and Vincent mayor Alannah MacTiernan launched the lakes’ sparkling new look, but the all-important “bio-filter” to help keep the water clean is not yet installed.

Ms MacTiernan says the works will help stop water levels fall in summer, when the lakes often turned into half-dry swamps.

“The restoration funds have been focused on helping fauna and vegetation to flourish,” she says.

So far $3.16 million has been spent on the project and the mayor says the “soft scape” works that remain will be completed without blowing out the full $3.5m budget.

The focus of replanting is on native species, and with the council’s ability to pump groundwater curtailed by WaterCorp, it will now be able to rely on rainfall to keep the lakes alive.

“We at last have a tangible result for Hyde Park,” Ms MacTiernan says.

“The masterplan has been put into action, within budget, and we have a lake that retains its ornamental beauty while requiring less water.”

The bio-filter will be funded by the council, with the landscaping and revegetation paid for by the federal government’s Water for the Future initiative, WaterCorp and Bendigo Bank.

by ROWENA HAMILTON

GREENS & CO owner Stuart Lofthouse has removed the We Love Naomi Clark sign from his Oxford Street business.

Mr Lofthouse told the Voice he took the sign down voluntarily as it had “served its purpose” and the council had not asked for its removal. “The purpose wasn’t to question who she was, but to push the mayor to act as she said she would,” the long-time council critic said.

Naomi Clark was the name attached to a letter published in the Voice that was highly critical of Cr John Carey. Mayor Alannah MacTiernan believes it’s a pseudonym and says people having a dig should put their own names to their letters. All attempts by the Voice to contact “Naomi Clark” have proved fruitless.

by ROWENA HAMILTON

THE Buddhist furnace at the Harold Street Indo-China Benevolent Association will be allowed to stay.

Residents had complained the unauthorised incinerator—used to burn paper money and incense for the dead—was smoking out the neighbourhood and causing health issues.

Ian Lu, an architect with the association, said they’d be willing to tone down use of the incinerator to only burn paper during the Ulanbana Festival, “an opportunity for the family members to pay homage to their loved ones who … live in the other world”.

The council has approved that restricted use and also asked that doors facing Wright Street be closed during “drumming, ringing of bells, amplified music, singing, chanting and the like”.

by DAVID BELL

NORTH PERTH’S Macedonian community is set to get a new church after using one for more than 30 years that’s pointed the wrong way.

In the 1970s local Macedonians moved into the former Anglican church on Angove Street.

Its altar points south, not east, and they cannot perform traditional Easter ceremonies as the church abuts a wall, preventing them from entering the church from all directions in a traditional manner.

An adjacent community hall will be demolished to make way for a new similar-sized church which, according to religious dictum, has been designed by a religious authority in Macedonia.

Local architect Denis Pandevski says it could take around three years to build the stone church, which is designed to last for several centuries.

The cost is estimated at around $2 million.

“I had to adapt some of the plans from Macedonia because they did not comply with Australia’s design codes,” he laughs.

“If all goes to schedule, we are hoping to start construction by the end of the year.

“The Macedonian community has been talking about doing this for the last 15 years, so it’s good to finally get things going.”

Mr Pandevski adds the church will have statues and frescos to rival the stunning art in the Macedonian Orthodox Church of St Nikola, on Macedonia Place in North Perth.

The existing church will be transformed into a community hall for committee meetings and functions.

The new church will have a capacity of around 100.

Mr Pandevski says demolition will commence over the next few months, with a temporary house of worship still to be arranged.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK