Community rally at Parliament House on Wednesday June 13 at 12.30pm.
Please come to this rally and show our politicians that we do not appreciate being treated with contempt when we express concerns about our city’s future.
The community of Perth will win this battle. We fight now for a better Waterfront plan and for our democratic rights to have a say in our city planning.
The Premier and Minister for Planning made a show of starting work on the Esplanade last Thursday. We have received some emails from people who feel helpless and are not sure about the effectiveness of further action. We hoped the Premier would have listened by now. Most people are by nature gentle and easily discouraged by actions such as the image of the Premier and his spade – this is a typical government action designed to make people feel overpowered. This battle must now increase its intensity and it may end with the deposing of the current government because they have become too arrogant and dictatorial. Any polling, and we have done much to test the mood, shows this project is very unpopular and people do want to see a rethink occur. We always get the same result which shows 1/3 want the project but don’t know much about it, 1/3 want development but don’t like the current project and, 1/3 want to see no change at all. When the details of the project are presented to people who support it in principle, many cease to give it support and want change. They are simply unaware of just how bad this project is.
This Premier is an ‘accidental’ Premier (he was not swept to power with a huge majority) and the Planning Minister does nothing other than his bidding. The Heritage Minister too shows great weakness in this saga. These people, and several others in the current Ministry are unpopular and can be unseated. We have steadfastly avoided making this issue political but the current actions of the Premier give us no choice. The Opposition does not support this project and will ensure that changes are made if they are in government. We are apolitical but we know that politicians fear electoral backlash above all else.
The first stage of this project involves forward works to prepare the Esplanade Reserve for sale to private developers. We have six months during which time we will apply as much public political pressure as possible to seek a rethink of the Waterfront project. We are building a large community of supporters who can take part in large-scale passive protests. You can become one by adding your email address to our supporters database.
This dreadful project was conceived by a handful of architects and planners and is promoted by a few ego-driven politicians and bureaucrats. The general public have had no say at all in its development. It is undemocratic and arrogant to foist a project of this scale onto the people without their involvement. This type of action is becoming the hallmark of this government and the WAPC. We need to reclaim our right to have a say in city planning before our city is ruined by inappropriate developments.
Free public lectures are being held to explain to the community the details of the Perth Waterfront project. The first was held at the Octagon. The next will be held in the CBD, we will keep you posted.
We flew a number of large helium balloons on April 16 to show the height and position of some buildings proposed for the Esplanade. These balloons, shown below, attracted much attention and when city workers realized what they represented they started to understand the impact this development will have on the city. The balloon flying will take place again shortly with larger balloons.
We now have over 11,000 signatures on our petition to the State Government. The Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs have been provided with a written report. Thank you so much to all those who are collecting and signing the petition. This is not a ‘mass’ signing process and every signature requires the collector to explain the situation which reinforces the sincerity of each signature.
We have a second rally tentatively planned for June 8 at lunch time to enable city workers to participate. Further bulletins will be issued as the time draws closer.
2,500 people attended a rally at The Esplanade today (26 February) to voice their concerns about the current Perth Waterfront project. This is a significant number considering this issue is not about protecting one’s own neighbourhood which is the usual reason people rally to a cause. In this case people were fighting for better planning of their central city area.
Signing of petitions should still continue in earnest and sent back to our postal address. This government will only be swayed by numbers so please continue to collect signatures.
On Sunday 19 February we released an alternative way of thinking about the Waterfront development. The plan is not intended to be a final concept by any means as we believe the community must be involved in a redesign. It does however bring together many ideas we have received from a wide range of community members. The major difference between these ideas and the current Government concept is the focus on community and culture.
Below is a view of the Government’s project from Kings Park.
At 11.00am on Sunday 26 February at The Esplanade Reserve people will rally to make history. On that day we will either decide to start demanding better and more accountable city planning or we will hand our city over forever to ideologically-driven bureaucrats. This Government will only reconsider this project if sufficient people attend this rally so please, exert your democratic right and come to the rally.
Most people are in favour of the Waterfront development proceeding but not in its current poorly planned format. There is also a large percentage of people who want the waterfront left alone. The point here is the Government has not given the community a chance to comment one way or the other. Our aim is to seek an open and accountable review which gives the people of Perth a chance to decide what should happen to their prime waterfront land.
Some people say the time for talk is over so let’s just get on with it. The Government is relying on the community taking this position. They rely on people being fatigued by the debate – this is a common strategy adopted by governments trying to implement their own agendas. This is an irresponsible approach given the serious and fundamental flaws of this project.
You can’t trust our Government planners to get things right. The Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre is a perfect example. It happened because we allowed it to happen. Don’t let apathy again allow a stubborn government to further destroy our city. Perth’s CBD is simply too small to cope with another major planning disaster.
It is not correct for this Government to say there has been adequate, let alone, extensive, community input or consultation about this current proposal. Most people would be aware of the waterfront project but all they would have seen would be the seductive colourful images published by the Government.
It is interesting to note comments made in the media about these alternative ideas being all too late. We have been trying for eighteen months to object to the current plan without success. Placing these alternative ideas in the public domain now is the only avenue left to us in our fight to save our city. We simply want people to see that there is an alternative way without destroying Perth’s character.
Just think for a moment about the logic behind the statement – ‘it is too late now to rethink the Waterfront development’. So, regardless of its very obvious and well known flaws the supporters of this project suggest the project should continue, flaws and all, simply because the Government says it has a program to maintain.
In the latest Westpoll 69% of those polled were against the current plan. To proceed with this project as it is will be one of the most undemocratic acts this government has conceived.