Sky's Vic Park Newsletter #12: August decisions and September's meeting
This covers some key decisions from the August Ordinary Council Meeting, and upcoming items of particular interest for the September 17th Council Meeting.
Kaya!
With my partner travelling to see family, my other job in full swing, and two little kids, its a busy time for me. There are so many wonderful events happening around the Town that I wish I could get to, but for now my focus is on getting through the basics!
Things do move slowly on council, so I’ve been continuing to do what I can on a few issues. This includes requesting a concept forum on cat management in the Town. Concept forums give Elected Members the opportunity to talk through the evidence on different policy approaches: we recently had an excellent one on hard rubbish collections, requested and run by Cr Miles and Cr Devereux.
This newsletter covers:
Some key decisions from the August Ordinary Council Meeting,
Upcoming items of particular interest for the September 17th Council Meeting.
August Council Meeting
As always, this is a short summary of some key decisions that I think might be of particular interest. To learn more you can read the minutes or watch the video recording of the meeting. For both, clicking on the Item number will take you to the relevant section.
The application for development approval for community housing in Carlisle (Item 12.1) was passed with only one vote against. Two amendments out forward by Mayor Vernon were passed, adding a requirement to keep the jacaranda tree on site, and allowing for a lower contribution to public art than the standard requirement (with this lowered contribution also to be considered for other community housing developments).
The Integrated Transport Program Working Group proposed by Rachel Watts at the Meeting of Electors was created (Item 12.1). Cr Devereux passed an amendment to require lived experience with integrated transport, and Cr Miles passed an amendment to increase the group size to nine community members rather than six. The first round of expressions of interest for the group has already closed - I’ll try to include the next round in the newsletter when it opens.
Cr Anderson’s motion for the staff to develop a feasibility report on making the Kensington Bushland portion of the Jirdarup Bushland Precinct more accesible passed unanimously.
Upcoming September Council Meeting
This meeting will be held on Tuesday 17th September at 6:30pm. You can find the agenda and the many attachments here.
Here are some of the items that I think might be of particular interest:
Item 11.2 Quarterly Strategic Reporting
I moved a motion for this to be deferred at the August council meeting, as I wanted us to have more time to consider it (and Mayor Vernon’s proposed amendment to it). The staff recommendation is to change the format of quarterly reporting on the Town's progress. I'm currently asking some follow-up questions about what this would look like, particularly when it comes to tracking how we're doing on things like the Reconciliation Action Plan, Climate Emergency Plan, and Access and Inclusion Plan. Currently quarterly reporting doesn't require a specific report on the Integrated Transport Plan.
Item 12.1: Urban Forest Implementation Action Plan Review
This provides a report on how we're doing so far, and what the plan is for implementing the Urban Forest Strategy between 2024 and 2029.
Item 12.2: Adoption of revised LPP 23 'Bicycle Parking, Car Parking and Access for Non-Residential Development'
If adopted, this would give non-residential developments scope to choose how much car parking they provide, with a requirement for better design of car parks and higher levels of ACROD parking. It would also introduce requirements to provide secure and convenient bicycle parking to better support our Integrated Transport Plan.
Item 13.1: TVP/24/09 Kerbline and Footpath Weed Control
As well as awarding the contract for weed management in the Town, there is a report here (attachment 13.1.2) on our approach to integrated weed management and use of glyphosate. If you have concerns about the use of weedkillers on your verge, you can add it to the no spray register.
Item 13.2: Lathlain Precinct Zone 1
This item allows the development of the Perth Football Club site to proceed to the next stage. There are quite a few attachments related to the (all marked 13.2.something), including images of the proposed design.
Item 14.1 Changes to Existing Parking Restriction
This would introduce parking restrictions on the Etwell St local centre to allow for better turnover for businesses there, and several parking bays will be removed on Teddington Rd to allow for better traffic flow and safety.
Item 14.2: Report on trial to remove parking restrictions in the Willis Street and Surrounds
This item is of particular interest to residents of Willis, Balmoral, and Hampshire Streets, between Berwick St and Albany Highway. It will also affect nearby businesses who might have customers who park on these streets. After a one-year trial of the removal of parking restrictions in this area, the Town staff recommend going back to 4P limits in the areas of these streets with more parking demand. As part of the trial, staff collected occupancy data for the streets, which is presented on pages 74 and 75 of the agenda.
We are all connected
As always, although my focus on council is local we are all connected to the wider world in a myriad of ways. I encourage you to consider doing what you can to support others beyond our area, which might include calling for Palestinian human rights to be protected, giving support to people at risk of famine, or urging the Australian government to address the impact of climate change on the Torres Strait.
That's all folks!
Thanks for reading! As always, I encourage you to get in touch if there's anything you want to ask about or discuss.
best wishes,
sky.
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