Kaya,

As we shift to Djeran, I’m enjoying some cooler days. I’ve been spending more time in the garden, watching my pumpkins and beans grow and waiting for the olives to ripen.

This newsletter covers:

• Getting involved;

• Coming up in April: responses to the meeting of electors’ motions and short-stay rental accommodation policy;

• Decisions made in March: the Draft Economic Development Strategy; the lease made for 10 Kent St; METRONET and Long Park; and the Elizabeth Baillie investigation into trees removed. Plus two special council meetings!

• Inspiration from elsewhere: Mondragón’s cooperative economy; a community-owned solar farm (a good example of community wealth building!); child-friendly apartments; and how one council helped low-income residents with energy upgrades.

Get involved

• Last month I passed an amendment to include principles of Community Wealth Building in our community consultation for the Economic Development Plan - and it’s now open for your feedback (but only until 13th April)!

• Did you know that you can request more greening around your favourite bus stop?

• There are so many amazing events on for Vic Park Arts Season - check it out! I’m especially intrigued by the idea of Pass It On, a cooperative public game.

• Do you want to get together with others and learn how to create change in your neighbourhood? Check out the Festival of Doing!

• Want to stay in touch with what’s happening around town without relying on social media algorithms? Subscribe to the Town newsletters, or newsletters for the Library and Community Centre.

Coming up in April

This is a short overview - for full details, read the agenda here or watch the Agenda Briefing Forum recording.

Item 11.2 Outcomes from Annual Meeting of Electors 16 March 2026

This is a big one! This item gives the full details of each motion put forward by electors, along with a response from Town staff.

Electors at the meeting put forward some great ideas for consideration (pg 13 on), including an increase to the Street Meet’n’Greet budget; many road and pedestrian safety projects; better support for live music; concerns about students’ rental conditions; and calls for the Town to plan for extreme heat.

At the Agenda Briefing Forum, I and other elected members had quite a few questions (38min on). With the answers given on the night and follow-up questions I’ve sent in by email, I’m hoping to put forward amendments to this item at the Ordinary Council Meeting on 21st April to strengthen some of our responses.

If you’re interested in any of the motions put forward, it would be great to hear from you ahead of the OCM by email, or at the meeting itself!

Item 12.1 Adoption of revised Local Planning Policy 31 'Unhosted Short Term Rental Accommodation and Residential Buildings' following readvertising

There were quite a few questions on this item, including from Cr Minson (1hr 29min on). Many of us on council are concerned about how to ensure that short-stay rental accommodation isn’t adding to the current housing crisis. You can see the draft of this policy currently proposed to be adopted here - please do let us know if you have thoughts on this!

Decisions made in March

There were two special council meetings in March: one focused on the development approval for Perth Park (which we refused) and one providing our recommendations to the WA Local Government Association on local government elections.

We also had the March Ordinary Council Meeting. As always, I’ve listed a few items of interest here but to see full details I recommend that you read the minutes or watch the meeting recording.

Item 12.1: Endorse for Public Advertising: Draft Economic Development Strategy 2026 - 2030

The Economic Development Strategy provides direction when it comes to the Town’s role in supporting and enabling economic development locally. I put forward an amendment to include questions about community wealth building in the public consultation process - Cr Ingram raised some objections to this (see 39min on), and it was then passed with all for apart from Cr Ingram.

Item 13.1: 10 Kent Street, East Victoria Park - Evaluation of EOI submissions

After significant discussion on the night of the meeting (1hr 2min on), some changes were made to this item and hopefully we’ll soon see this building in use.

Item 13.2: METRONET - Agreements

After some debate, including arguments put forward by Mayor Vernon against signing the agreement (see 2hr 15min on), this item was passed unanimously.

Item 13.4 Elizabeth Baillie Investigation Report

There was considerable collaboration behind the scenes between various elected members, leading to Mayor Vernon putting forward an alternative motion supported by Deputy Mayor Miles. This motion (pg 75) directs the CEO to investigate policy gaps and project management issues that led to the unauthorised removal of trees at Elizabeth Baillie Precinct, and the develop a tree planting plan for the area as soon as possible.

Inspiration from elsewhere

• Mondragón, in the Basque region of Spain, provides an enduring example of what an economy that prioritises local needs might look like. There’s an argument that it could be a good model for a green transition.

• After twelve years of work, a community-owned and cooperatively-run 1.4-megawatt solar farm has opened in Goulburn, NSW.

• Reading this article on apartment living with families, I found out that “The City of Parramatta in Sydney, where nearly half of 0-4 year olds live in apartments, has created Australia’s only guidelines (not requirements) for child-friendly high-density living.”

• One local council helped 1,200 low-income residents finance solar and home energy upgrades!

We are all connected

With the ongoing attacks by the US and Israel on civilians, we continue to feel the ripples here. I know that many people in our community have friends and family who are directly affected.

The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality - James Baldwin

How do we live well in a world where it seems that those in power are incapable of morality? By continuing to look for ways to care for each other and push for justice - near and far.

If you have money to spare, consider donating to some of the organisations working urgently to support civilians through violence and dispossession. There are also many organisations within Australia working to support those who have fled war.

Boordawan!

Thanks for reading! As always, if you have questions, ideas, or concerns, please do feel free to get in touch. And if you’ve read this far and found it useful, please consider sharing with friends!

best wishes,

sky.