inmcommunity - opinion

Paid parking pain for greater gain

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0800

COMPARED to many other commuters, Stirling drivers have had it pretty easy when it comes to paid parking, but this has led to other problems.

The biggest problem is finding parking in crowded areas such as Main Street or the Herdsman Business Park, where the carparks fill up quickly, causing a lot of frustration for employees and shoppers.

The verges quickly fill up, and City of Stirling rangers are quick to issue fines.

This is what makes the parking plan for the Herdsman Business Park so impressive.

There will be sacrifices, insofar as you will have to pay, but $25 a week for parking is not unreasonable, and the peace of mind of knowing there will be parking spots available is invaluable.

Not everyone will like the move, but at least the City is doing something to improve amenity in the area.

Its success may determine if it is implemented in other areas around Stirling, so residents should keep an eye on this|development.

Childcare boost must be fair to all

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0800

IF the Federal Government truly valued childcare workers, it would distribute its $300 million grant evenly across the industry.

As more and more families have two working parents, childcare has become more and more of a necessity, but one with serious availability and affordability problems.

Improving the staff retention and attractiveness of the industry would go some way to solving these problems, but it seems illogical to target only one portion of the sector.

Childcare peak bodies suggest a $300 million grant would be inequitable if it were distributed to workers on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.

And it hardly makes any sense to apply a grant intended to increase the attractiveness of the industry to only a part of it.

If childcare work is to pay well enough to keep skilled people engaged, it needs to be across the industry as a whole.

Stirling standoff a sheer waste

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0800

MINDARIE Regional Council wants waste. In particular, the City of Stirling’s.

It needs it to keep the cost of waste disposal down among its member councils of Wanneroo, Joondalup, Vincent, Perth, Cambridge and Victoria Park.

The City of Stirling remains a member, but for about three years has been exempt from being required to use the MRC’s Tamala Park and Neerabup facilities while negotiations continue on its decision to withdraw.

Stirling has argued it has been acting in the best interests of its ratepayers by avoiding having to charge them an extra $33 for the same service it is getting elsewhere.

Many look forward to the outcome of the next Stirling City Council meeting to discuss the invitation from MRC to remain a member. Hopefully, negotiations can resume and compromises be reached to support Stirling and keep the MRC’s operational costs down. In the meantime, the ongoing saga has been fertile ground for the legal fraternity.

Broken promises dent public trust

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 +0800

HONESTY in election campaigning reared its head again last week, when West Swan MLA Rita Saffioti questioned Police Minister Liza Harvey about promising a 24/7 police station in Ballajura.

When Mrs Harvey announced the new station in February, she said while police would work from the station 24 hours a day, it would be open to the public only during business hours.

According to Mrs Saffioti, electronic signboards positioned throughout the hotly contested West Swan electorate stating ‘Liberal for 24-hr 7-day police station’ make it now a broken promise.

In her response in Parliament, Mrs Harvey confirmed the new station would not offer a 24-hour counter service.

She later told the Reporter she was unaware of the signboards until last week and that it was “unfortunate” the words used could have misled the public.

With the federal poll looming, we will be working to hold our political parties to account.

Ellenbrook short of police

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 +0800

IT’s high time there was an increased police presence around Ellenbrook.

Crime – including assaults and street vandalism – is on the rise, with some residents now unwilling to leave their homes at night because of groups of teens roaming the streets.

WA had a hospital admission rate from assault of 131 per 100,000 people in 2009-10, well above the national average of 105 per 100,000 and trailing only the Northern Territory.

The number of police officers assigned to Ellenbrook appears to fall well short of the State’s average.

WA Police has an authorised strength of 5634 officers. That is 235 officers for every 100,000 people, or one officer for every 425 citizens.

Based on the statewide ratio, Ellenbrook should now have a lot more full-time officers assigned to an area housing a population of 16,284.

Local crime rates indicate there would also be plenty for officers to do if the station was manned 24/7.

The Ellenbrook police station operates only 8am to 4pm on weekdays.

Figures provided by the WA Police business intelligence office show Perth’s population grew by almost 26 per cent between 2003 and 2012, compared with an 8 per cent rise in the number of full-time police officers.

You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to see those numbers don’t add up.

The State Government has already committed to 350 extra police under a staged, five-year program that began in 2009-10.

The police union says at least 800 more officers are needed over the next four years to maintain the strength of the force. That figure includes 200 more officers needed now.

The Barnett Government needs to increase police resources immediately to protect the public and their property.

Making residents feel safe in their homes should be a top priority.

Bigger city is best

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0800

AN ambitious recasting of the City of Perth as an enlarged capital that gobbles up 19 of the 30 existing municipal bodies could drive efficiencies saving ratepayers up to $80 million, according to Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi.In the City of Perth’s response to the State’s reform blueprint released earlier this year, Mrs Scaffidi is urging the State to press harder in its reforms by taking a longer term view of the sector.

She argues that the proposed replacement of the City’s 30 councils with 12 new bodies outlined by review chairman Professor Alan Robson ignores an opportunity to pursue a higher-level reshaping that would substantially bolster service delivery while driving economic growth.

Ms Scaffidi’s vision for reform would result in the new capital city council also assuming management responsibility and control of the Swan River, Kings Park, the Queen Elizabeth II medical precinct and Burswood Peninsula.

The lord mayor argues that the State Government’s reforms need to address the city’s growth to 2050, when Perth could be home to a population of 3.5 million.

“Among other things, these gains would provide the City with the capacity to improve the quality and consistency of decision making across the metropolitan area and to invest more heavily in the promotion and strategic development of metropolitan Perth,” she said.

“Expanding the City of Perth municipality would also increase council’s fiscal capacity and, in doing so, increase the opportunity to finance major capital projects.”

She believes that residents who live outside existing City of Perth boundaries accept that the City has a higher-level responsibility for planning, transport and in driving economic growth.

“Many people who are not residents or ratepayers of the City have an interest in the City because they are visitors to it, or because they have an attachment to it because it is the ‘heart’ of Perth and recognised as the capital.

“Similarly, many outside of the City regard the lord mayor as someone who represents them and provides leadership to the whole metropolitan area.”

This last point is likely to raise eyebrows among Perth’s 29 other mayors, many of who are considering a future that does not include them.

Bigger means better, she argues, with the larger capital city council employing an army of 4800 people, enabling it to recruit specialist staff managing an assets base worth $5.4 billion.

With the added responsibility will come fresh demands on the elected members, who would be paid full-time salaries, with the potential for sub-regional electoral bodies to ensure full representation for residents, she added.

Perth's hidden gem

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0800

MENTION the suburb of Ashfield in a conversation and most people would ask where in Australia it was.That of course, is part of the tiny community’s charm, surrounded by the suburbs of Bassendean and Bayswater, the Swan River and Guildford Road.

During the 1960s, the State Housing Commission (Department of Housing) built hundreds of homes and the suburb still has a significant amount of “social” housing.

But during the past 10 years, Ashfield has changed and builders, as well as new homebuyers, are starting to see just why residents adore this suburb.

Less than 10km from the city and on a train line is always going to be a bonus for people who work in the city and have teenagers, but it is much more than that.

The residents of Ashfield have a strong community spirit and members of the local residents’ group Ashfield CAN work hard to organise events where everyone feels welcome.

The people are unpretentious and a quick stroll through the suburb or along the river will attest to this.

Most will say hello to you and even strike up a conversation.

But don’t think it’s perfect. It’s not.

The residents have had to deal with their fair share of troubles in the past.

However, if you like to kayak, walk your dog along the Swan River, be 9km from the CBD, and on a train line, Ashfield is worth a look.

Electricity lines have recently been placed underground, which means in a few years time the street trees and the landscape will look superb. And residents will not have to be concerned with constant power outages and pole top fires.

Drowning highlights gaps in safety

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0800

PEOPLE lined the sea wall in Mindarie.Concerned, worried, anxious. Somebody’s loved one was under the water.

Turned out to be a lovely Sudanese boy – born in a Ugandan refugee camp and settled in Perth with his family three years ago.

Not a strong swimmer, it was said, with his death prompting a call from Surf Life Saving WA for a culture shift that migrants along with all children should be encouraged through government-funded campaigns to learn to swim, an essential skill for a West Australian.

But along with learning to swim comes learning about beach safety and all that entails. So to blame the City of Wanneroo for the tragic drowning of Jenon George Biwot at one of its beaches would be wrong.

It is a victim of its fast population growth and the attractiveness of some of its unpatrolled beaches.

Many of its overseas-born residents, lacking swimming skills and surf nous, have been caught out in rips just like migrants and tourists at other Perth metropolitan beaches .

The City, however, can help by adding its voice to the call for a swimming awareness campaign for new West Australians.

And it can act to expedite the audit it rightly called for from SLS WA, add words such as “caution” to its rip sign at the Claytons beach staircase and put a ‘dangerous rip’ message at the beach’s Long Beach Promenade entrance.

In the meantime, the openness and generosity of Jenon’s father has inspired the community to learn more about the Sudanese community without any prejudice based on whether they can swim.

And let the community surround this grieving family just as residents lined Alexandria View on Sunday evening, hoping against hope as volunteer sea rescue crews scoured the sea as if they were looking for their own.

Retail growth hangs in the balance

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0800

THE tussle over the future of the Whitford City Shopping Centre is a three-way contest between owners Westfield and the State and Local Governments.

All three parties have legitimate and, at times, conflicting interests.

The State Government, through its activity centre’s policy, wants to ensure shopping centres are more than stale retail areas and the Whitford City plan is seen as a test case of the policy.

They want vibrant, mixed-use precincts, with high-density housing, well serviced by public transport.

These aims are laudable.

Local Governments want to protect the amenity of residents living near centres.

They have legitimate concerns that changes of the scale required to comply with the activity centres’ policy could radically alter the suburbs around shopping centres.

Caught in the middle of the competing interests are the shopping centre owners – in this case Westfield. Its main interest is expanding commercial offerings to maximise returns to shareholders.

In normal circumstances, it would have little interest in developing structure plans or prescribing housing densities around shopping centres, but this is a role that is being forced upon the business.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Whitford City, as this planning tussle is likely to be repeated across Perth when other shopping centres want to expand.

It is likely an agreement can and will be found to balance the competing interests, although it is unlikely to be reached quickly.

Watch this space.

Hard work gives a sporting edge

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0800

TO be successful in a sport, you must to be driven to succeed, you must be motivated to put in the hard work and you should look to gain every fair advantage you can.

The Essendon Football Club scandal with illegal supplements allegedly given to players by sports scientists, is a reminder that not every advantage works.

However the collapse of the Bombers is also proof that with team sports, any amount of illegal doping counts for nothing.AFL is a sport with an |endurance and strength component, but it is predominantly a skill-based sport.

You can have all the strength and endurance in the world, but if you can’t hit a target from 45 metres you won’t win - it’s that simple.

However, in searching for that edge over the other teams some may have crossed a line they simply did not need to cross, not only from a health perspective but an ethical one.

Like it or not, children look up to AFL players, and this kind of behaviour sends the wrong message to the next |generation of footballers.

There’s a simple way to become a good, or even a great football team, and it is hard work. All they needed to do was practice hitting that target.

Train the Practise technique, and the fitness and strength will come.

Change tune on law and order

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0800

THE lyrics of the world’s best songwriters have the ability to leave indelible information in our minds.Among the most poignant: In the Ghetto, sung by Elvis Presley, tells the tragic tale of a child, born into a poor family without the basics including food and turning to crime.

Sadly, in many cases, the |poetry of this song is borne out. Children born into families |unable to cope turn to crime not only to survive but also to feel part of something - gangs become their families.

So if politicians really want to talk law and order it is time to get to the crux of the matter.
Safe and happy home lives along with a good education are the most important ingredients for a child to prosper.

As we move closer to the State election, we will hear politicians pulling out the “old chestnut” of how their party is going to get tough on crime.

However, ask your local politician what he or she is going to do to prevent crime, rather than trying to address it when it is too late.

Sense blown out with the candle

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0800

JUST where is political correctness heading? Under new National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines, children could be banned from blowing out the candles on their birthday cakes in the classroom.It’s one of the big birthday thrills, carting a cake to school to share with mates and blowing out the candles. Now, youngsters will have to take their own cupcake with a candle or cupcakes for the class.

Obviously children can spread germs by blowing out candles but far less so, you’d think, than coughing and sneezing all over their mates, using public drinking fountains or sharing a glass or bottle.

It’s not just a silly move but one more nail in the coffin of freedom that we have allowed to occur gradually without question for far too long.

It’s all so trivial.

A young mother was fined $250 for simply shifting an uncomfortable mobile phone from her back jeans pocket while stopped at traffic lights.

Where will it all end?

Show your love all the year

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0800

IF you think publicity surrounding the State Election is annoying, and granted that will last another month, this year’s hype over Valentine’s Day is beyond a joke.

It’s nice to let the special |person/people in your life know you love them, but the Australian Veterinary Association is telling us to pamper our pets on February 14.

Cynicism is a personality trait I admit to, but what is the point of pledging our undying love to our dogs, cats, birds or fish when as far as we humans know, Valentine’s Day doesn’t exist in the animal kingdom?

Is it a genuine push by the AVA to encourage better pet care, or marketing gone mad?

It’s suggestions for pet |spoiling this year including |microchipping, grooming, new toys and investing in training had me suspecting the latter, despite all being commendable.

The trick is to show those near and dear, human or animal, your love for them all year long, isn’t it?

Hotel proposal makes a change