This is the personal blog of Ian Ker, who was Councillor for the South Ward of the Town of Vincent from 1995 to 2009. I have been a resident of this area since 1985. This blog was originally conceived as a way of letting residents of Vincent know what I have been doing and sharing thoughts on important issues. I can now use it to sound off about things that concern me.

If you want to contact me, my e-mail is still ian_ker@hotmail.com or post a comment on this blog.

To post a comment on this blog, select the individual post on which you wish to comment, by clicking on the title in the post or in the list to the left of the blog, and scroll down to the 'Post a Comment' box at the foot.

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Friday, August 2, 2013

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

When the Town of Vincent was hived off from the City of Perth by the then Liberal Premier, Richard Court, in 1994, the southern boundary was set at Newcastle Street, partly to ensure that the potentially troublesome Vincent community would have no say in, or ability to make waves about, the Northbridge Tunnel.

Fast forward to 2013 and look at the maps for the new boundary between the City of Perth and the proposed Victoria Park/South Perth local government.

The most immediately-obvious thought is to ask why Belmont Racecourse didn't go with the rest of the Burswood Pensinsula rather than being left as an outlier for South Park, with all the difficulties of servicing such an area. And the initially-cynical response is that the racecourse doesn't generate the income for local government that the Casino does - as if the City of Perth needed more than it already generates, but that's a separate issue.

But then, perhaps the Burswood boundary issue is not just about the money. Look closely and you see that the new boundaries place Emperor Barnett's new colosseum firmly within the new City of Perth - preventing the potentially troublesome South Park community having any say in, or ability to make waves about, the Stadium.

A distinct feeling of deja vu, here.


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