Jan Doo Park

Sunday saw a gathering of about thirty five people at Jan Doo Park in the southern part of Como. This rather beautiful little park is the central piece of residential development in the area. Surrounded by beautiful trees, coloured by Jacarandas, with a safe kids' playground, a fountain, a cricket game that never ends and a couple of pergolas, Jan Doo is a peaceful refuge and a common ground for residents to meet on cool evenings.

In the past couple of years the water supply bores for the park have not functioned, partly due to lack of power supply to a new bore. Residents have expressed their frustration with this with much patience. However, on Sunday they left me in no doubt that they were reaching the limits of patience.

To the credit of City of South Perth, after discussions on Monday, two senior officers met with me on site early on Tuesday morning. The Mayor, James Best (no relation), is today in Canberra addressing the national meeting of City Mayors, and took the trouble to call on Monday night about Jan Doo Park. Councillor Les Ozsdolay called to let me know about background to the park and its history.

As a result of these calls and meetings, the City officers have reassured us that they will contact the power company immediately, will keep us informed of progress and will work to get water on the park. They also gave reassurance that they will submit a budget request for shade sail over the playground. A number of other maintenance issues, as listed by residents, were discussed and noted by the officers for action.

Thanks to Joanne Smith and James Wrathall for organising the meeting on Sunday. I'll be following progress with interest. Please feel free to have your say by clicking on "Comments" below.

Red Bull and Cycle City South Perth

Wow! Wasn't that a well organised, well attended, exciting, peaceful and enjoyable event?

I loved it. As a pilot, member of the public and Councillor I really enjoyed both days. The crowd spirit was fantastic, the venue was left clean, people had fun, the were hundreds and hundreds of bicycles and people on foot, the police had little to do and got along with everybody well.

Increased number of bicycles is such a good sign that people are making the change to healthy activities, leaving their cars behind and also leaving parking spaces free. I noticed empty parking bays all day (fantastic). A good friend suggested that the City could add a very large number of cycle lock-up points, such as rails or poles with loops. Perhaps before Australia Day? What do you think?

Having organised very many events myself, I really appreciated the fact that things seemed to go so smoothly that I didn't notice the organisation. Well done everybody :-)

Re the above photo, I have some video clips that I have edited. They can accessed by clicking here, for you to download and play. Just have the sound tuned up loud for full effect, before you begin :-)

Other high point in my weekend? Finding the new French patisserie, behind the stairs opposite BankWest. Genuine French baker, pleasant staff and croissant and "pain chocolat" to dance for. Bienvenue a Perth du Sud et bonne chance.