Kaya,

I hope that you and your loved ones are well.

It’s been a rough few weeks for me here, as I’ve had to say goodbye to my much-loved yiayia. As well as all of the conversations we had in the last few years about her youth in Alexandria, the family’s time in South Africa, the latest political news, and what friends and family were up to, she always used to ask me to explain what I was working on at council (which often involved me having to stop and look up many new Greek words). I will miss her terribly.

So it’s been quieter than usual on council, with family taking the forefront.

Still, the work goes on and this newsletter covers:

• Getting involved - there’s a lot on right now!

• Coming up in September: Karla Bidi and the Perth Festival; additional works at Elizabeth Baillie Reserve; some parking modifications; and Mayor Vernon’s attendance at the 2026 Parks and Leisure Australia National Conference.

• Decisions made in August: appointment of a council member to the Business Advisory Group; endorsement of sending the Draft Homelessness Action Plan for public comment; Verge Collection Service evaluation; 10 Kent St again; the Victoria Park Carlisle Bowling Club lease; and calls to fund local climate action.

• Inspiration from elsewhere: hedgehog highways, how Uruguay decarbonised, and makerspaces.

Get involved

• The Vic Park Community Centre team would love some help on Saturday 26th September, even if you can only stop by for a an hour or two!

• We have so many grants open right now! Get support to throw a party with your neighbours; add something beautiful to an area of the Town; insure your community group; and more.

• Expressions of interest are now open for our arts season!

• There are open spots for community members on several of our working and advisory groups, which help to shape our programs and services. The expression of interest process is intended to be easy and welcoming, so if you have relevant experience please consider applying to join our Access and Inclusion Advisory Group; Mindeera Advisory Group; Urban Forest Working Group; or Integrated Transport Working Group.

• There are a bunch of free skate park coaching sessions coming up in October, some for girls only and some open to all.

• All Wheels Welcome will be running their first community ride on Saturday 3rd October at 4pm, leaving from Mends St Jetty.

• The Adaptation Game helps communities play out responses to climate change. With fires, floods, and other disasters accelerated by climate change in the news, now is a good time to think through ways to build resilience in our community. There’s a localised version specific to Vic Park now in the library and ready to play!

• Make/shift is a festival of futuremaking in Walyalup (Freo), and looks like an excellent space for imagining how we get from where we are to where we might want to be.

• 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, Community Centre, and Centre for the Arts.

Decisions coming up in September

The next Ordinary Council Meeting will be held on 15th September, at 6:30pm. As always, I’ll highlight a few key items but read the full agenda for details.

Item 12.1 Perth Festival Karla Bidi Sponsorship

Staff recommend that we funding allocated in the budget for events and place activation to provide sponsorship for Karla Bidi, a large-scale public art installation proposed
to be delivered within the Town of Victoria Park during February 2027.

Item 13.1 Elizabeth Baillie Reserve – Additional Works Post Practical Completion

Staff recommend (pg 31) that we authorise use of existing project funding for additional bins, a drainage review of Hillview Terrace, additional promenade seating, the retrofitting of collars to play equipment, and continued temporary CCTV coverage.

Item 14.1 Parking Modification Arrangements

Staff recommend that we endorse parking changes to Adie Court Bentley, in line with resident requests, and that we allow all-day parking at King George Street Carpark.

Item 17.1 Mayor Karen Vernon - Attendance at 2026 Parks and Leisure Australia National Conference

This motion is, “That Council approves Mayor Karen Vernon to attend the Parks and Leisure Australia National Conference in Melbourne between 29 November to 2 December 2026 in accordance with Policy 022.”

Staff note that, “The estimated cost of attending the conference, including registration, flights, accommodation and associated travel expenses, is approximately $3,000. The annual budget allocation for elected member professional development and conference attendance is $45,000. Attendance at the conference can be accommodated within this budget allocation.”

Decisions made in August

As always, this is a brief summary and I recommend that you watch the meeting recording or read the minutes for more details.

Item 11.3 Appointment of Council Member Following Vacancy on the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee and Business Advisory Group

I was the only nominee for the Business Advisory Group, and so will fill the vacant spot. There were no nominees for the Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee.

Item 12.1 Endorsement to advertise the Draft Homelessness Action Plan

The draft plan was endorsed and went out for public comment.

Item 13.2 874 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park - Evaluation of Expression of Interest Submissions

The first expression of interest process for this site did not result in a suitable tenant, so it was advertised again.

Item 13.3 10 Kent Street, East Victoria Park - Evaluation of EOI submissions

Mayor Vernon put forward an alternative (p. 57) to the officers’ recommendation, to instead offer the property to the non-profit applicant aiming to “deliver complementary music, performing arts, workshops, community choirs, early childhood music education and other creative programming”. Should this offer not progress, staff are to bring a report back to council by December 2026 on the possibilities of using the space:

“a. for any of the Town’s operational needs;
b. as a community meeting space similar to the Vic Park Community Space at 660 Albany Hwy;
or
c. as an innovative community space that provides for a range of passive and active uses that build social connection, community participation and belonging, whether through direct delivery, partnership or shared non-exclusive possession models.”

This passed unanimously.

Item 13.4 18 Kent Street, East Victoria Park (Victoria Park Carlisle Bowling Club) - Lease Renewal

This lease agreement has now been renewed.

Item 17.1 Cr Sky Croeser - Support for WALGA Motion calling for National Climate Adaptation Funding

As I argued in my speech (at 2 hrs 8min), this motion (p. 84) would encourage our delegates at the Western Australian Local Government Association AGM to join the Town of East Fremantle and others around Australia (see a map of local campaigns here) and the world in calling for the federal government to provide more funding for local climate action, in part by taxing fossil fuel companies.

Mayor Vernon argued against this during debate, noting (amongst other points) that our staff have not evaluated the potential impacts of a federal tax along these lines, and that people in our community are not calling for us to support this.

This motion was lost.

Deputy Mayor Miles, Cr Minson, Cr Gordon-Manley and myself voted for.

Mayor Vernon, Cr Anderson, Cr Ingram, Cr Biondi and Cr Melrosa voted against.

Inspiration from elsewhere

• I recently watched Wild London and was delighted to learn about ‘hedgehog highways', which allow hedgehogs to travel between gardens in order to forage and find mates. We don’t have hedgehogs here, but I love the idea of understanding how small changes can allow native animals to thrive in cities.

  

• Uruguay has shifted to an almost-entirely renewable grid, while also retaining public ownership of its power utility and grid - listen to Ramón Méndez Galain talk about how he helped drive the change.

• Makerspaces can help build community and facilitate innovation - here’s a fun look inside!

We are all connected

The recent tragedy in Tibet and Nepal has been another terrible reminder that the choices we make here echo throughout the world. While Nepal makes a tiny contribution to climate pollution and has been working on successful reforestation projects, our failure to act globally led to horrifying floods and landslides, with thousands of people dead or missing. Nepal has called on the countries responsible for the most climate pollution to take action and pay compensation. As well as supporting these calls, you can contribute to the Government of Nepal Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund.

As well as the impacts of climate change, we continue to see violence around the world and the ongoing genocide in Palestine (much of which is entangled with the same systems causing environmental devastation). If you have money to spare, consider donating to some of the organisations working urgently to support civilians through violence and dispossession. Carad has just moved into our area, and would appreciate donations. If you have time to spare, the Palestinian Community of Western Australia is looking for volunteers, especially for English and mathematics high school tutoring.

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.