Como Barbecue: Thank You

Thank you to everyone who made today’s event.

The motivation for the barbecue is my hope that we talk with each other, that we have useful conversation.

Our city is changing, rapidly. One of the hot spots of this change is around Como and Canning Bridge. Como is a magnificent place to live. I hope that in fifty years time it is still outstanding and our grandchildren say “Thank goodness they planned for our future”

Yes, there are things that other people can do for us. We can talk about that. Mainly I hope that we have conversation about what we can do for and with each other, connecting our community.

Much was expressed today. I heard about people’s need for safety, both physical and financial. I heard concerns about overshadowing and parking. There were worries about effects on species diversity, river bank protection and the need to connect ecosystems. The effects of population growth were discussed. Some people felt that equity between suburbs was important, others that transport to the airport was a big issue. Possible changes to Council Rates were at the front of some people’s minds.

After the event Lyn MacLaren from Greens WA spent about an hour with me, on a walking inspection of the Canning Bridge area.

There is sure to be much more to talk about. One of the next events will be a seminar with a respected international consultant on city design.

As always, just click on ‘Comments’ to have your say.

Como Barbecue, Sunday, 28 March, 1 p.m.

So many responses from people coming to the barbecue at McDougall Park on Sunday. Dozens of people have emailed and phoned. Steve Irons, John McGrath and Lynn MacLaren, our local members of Federal and State Parliaments will be there, with the Mayor James Best, Deputy Mayor Sue Doherty plus Glen Cridland and myself, your ward Councillors.

I hope for a lot of conversation about what is happening in our suburb, about what we can do, ourselves, to make this an even better place to live. Yes, there will be things that we believe someone else should do, and we’ll have a conversation about these too.

Sculpture on the Beach at Cottesloe recently was a lot of fun. That community has done something special to make their community stand out. I found the ideas and the experience inspirational.

At a community forum on the Melville side of the bridge last night so many people came up with ideas about what they could do personally to make this area even better. To follow up on this we’ll be building a FaceBook site around the statement “What I did today to make a difference.”

Have your say by clicking on Comments, below. No need to log in, you can just use the ‘Anonymous’ or ‘Name’ options if you prefer.

Open Government

At Sunday’s community meeting a number of people made comments about the Council being secretive and about the difficulties of finding information. While I personally feel these comments were unfair and that many people had not looked very hard, I think that we can manage our information access better.

Our Council, like most, has a commitment to be ‘open and accountable.’ However, does this go much past having a register of how Councillors voted on issues?

Open government is the political idea which holds that the business of government should be opened at all levels to effective public scrutiny and oversight. Open government is widely seen to be a key hallmark of contemporary democratic practice. (Thanks Wiki).

Along with providing more access to data goes a corresponding concern for protecting citizens' privacy so they are not exposed to "adverse consequences, retribution or negative repercussions".

On his first full day in office, President Obama issued an Executive Order and several memoranda on transparency and participation in the Federal Government. “My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government,” Obama indicated. “The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.” He added: “In the face of doubt, openness prevails. Agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government.”

Should we be actively putting more of our information on- line: building application details, legal challenges, policy documents, financials, SAT hearings, restaurant health inspection data, clinic attendance numbers, street tree and park bench locations and so on, to a much greater degree?

A key point is putting the information out there, even if we don’t know how someone could use it.

The US lead the way with FOI legislation, known as ‘sunshine laws’. Australia followed suit in 1982 and WA in 1992. This is good, but really, if we are going to give away information under FOI why not be pro- active and get it out there anyway?

There is a very good example of E-Gov openness at data.gov

Can we do this better? Have your say by clicking on “Comments” below.

Canning Bridge Land Values and Rates

Wow, I think my phone just melted and my email took off for the moon. When we invite the community to get involved, people do just that.

In response to a flood of questions and speculation about what might happen with rates I have put together my very un- official summary of a very non- committed précis of how the City rates system works, how land valuation is achieved and how this affects land- owners. I am not expert in this area but do listen to people who are.

In summary, rates are based on Gross Rental Value. This in turn depends on what choices you make about what you do with your land and about how much rent people would pay for that development.

1. The City will not be changing its rates calculation model - so the rates will always be calculated as the GRV assigned by the Valuer General's Office to each property in the area multiplied by the Rate in the $ applied by Council to EVERY property in the City (that is the City will not be levying any differential or special area rate on properties in the Canning Bridge Precinct)

2. The only variable then that could affect rates in the Canning Bridge Precinct would be a movement in the GRV - provided by the VGO - not us. This reflects local development and the State and National economy.

3. One would assume that the primary impacts of the implementation of the Canning Bridge Precinct study would be that there will be an increase in density and some subdivision of lots. Some properties will obviously remain as they are should the owners not wish to participate in the opportunities provided by the implementation of the recommendations of the CBP study

4. Given that, it is likely that there would be a modest aggregate increase in the total rates yield from the overall area (from those properties that are either subdivided or on which new construction occurs.)

5. The newly created properties or new construction are likely to be assessed as having a slightly higher GRV than existing properties - but this is not an automatic outcome! Subdivision would also increase the number of lots - so would therefore increase total rates yield - not necessarily individual rates. Note, this is only if you sub- divide.

6. It is unlikely that rates for those properties that the owners chose to keep as they are, rather than take development opportunities, are likely to change very much if at all - because the properties will in fact remain exactly the same in terms of individual amenity and rental return generating capacity. Owners would actually have to 'do something' for a major change in GRV to occur.

7. The next GRV revaluation is not due until July 2011 - and irrespective of developments at Canning Bridge, that revaluation will reflect the Valuer General's assessments of likely rental return (which given expected economic conditions in the WA economy could see GRVs increase across the board in WA although not by huge amounts). GRV of any property reflects the VGO assessment of rental returns - that is, it is driven by matters generally  not connected with Canning Bridge.

In summary, if you choose not to develop your property then the rates are unlikely to change significantly. It is also worth noting that it takes considerable time to change the density coding for a new Town Plan and even longer for development to actually happen. I expect that the full development might take as long as twenty years.

Please recognise however that this is just a summary of a logical thought process given current knowledge. I really can not in good conscience give any guarantees of what will happen because the 'variable' (GRVs) is not one that is within the City's control.

Have your say about how we can make this place even better by clicking on ‘Post a Comment,’ below.

Foreshore Ceremonial Site and Flagpoles

This evening we had a residents’ meeting about the new flag poles area on the South Perth foreshore. The plan includes four flags, representing Australia, Western Australia, Aboriginal heritage and the City of South Perth.

Some people signed a petition and spoke strongly against the inclusion of the Aboriginal flag. Others spoke passionately about celebration of the entire community, recognition of all our parts and of aspects of our history. Speakers recognised the importance of recognising Governor Stirling, the founder of the colony, of significant dates in South Perth and of thousands of years of indigenous connection.

There were those who spoke in favour of having only the Australian flag, others about this being a site for the whole community and about the way that the park is used by millions of people.

My own view is that all four flags represent respect for our shared heritage, our current reality and our future. My own family has been in Australia for six generations. I think we are still new immigrants, learning our way.

In years to come this site will be viewed proudly by all who pass by.

Perth Summertime Night Life

A late night out in summer in Perth is just so much fun. Northbridge’s new piazza is a well- lit, open space. Barrack Street precinct is alive and bright. The Ferris wheel is a new and different way to enjoy a view of the city and river.

This is so very different form the newspaper images of our city that I just had to comment. These shots were all taken at around eleven pm. We even had a chat with some passing coppers, just to find out if we were seeing something unusual. Their response was about not believing what you read. Not only did we feel safe and happy, but but it was obvious that so too did the people on the street.

There were families having a picnic in the piazza, young people dressed for a night on the town, older people having dinner and a good buzz everywhere. Love the public art and the huge TV screen too.

The Ferris wheel by the river is open to eleven pm. and is well worth a ride. The area is bright and safe, everyone is friendly.

Barrack Street Jetty area is full of life too. The restaurants are buzzing, the belltower is a visual attraction and river views beautiful under moonlight.

Over the next week I’ll post some more images of the South Perth side of the river. The end of summer in Perth is filled with all the joys of the International Arts Festival and South Perth Fiesta. There are wonderful speakers, theatre, music and much else.

Tomorrow morning begins with the Esther Foundation fun run; what a great way to begin a public holiday. See you out there!

Have your say about how we can make this place even better. Just click on Comments, below.