South of the River

Here's my wish list. MUST HAVE   • Interest in long-term direction of our local community • Listening skills, prepared to listen more often than to tell • Emotional intelligence • ...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2017/10/what-skills-should-councillor-have.html

Are we becoming grumpy and confused? Is this because we trust each other less? Do we trust companies and government less? Is distrust becoming our default emotion? Trust: the expectation t...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2017/10/trust-is-secret-sauce-that-makes.html

Today's Melville Times quotes an elected Councillor saying "You've had your say, now go away" to people she disagreed with. A vital skill for any community representative is the ability to ...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2017/08/todays-melville-times-quotes-elected.html

The DATA365 team is going to walk 100 kilometres in 48 hours! I remember the Oxfam teams and others I worked with in Africa, for 13 years. We installed over four hundred boreholes for farms and v...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2017/03/making-difference.html

No more decisions based on opinions and personal anecdotes. No more best-guess. The WA government is catching up with the world in making publicly-funded data open and accessible http://data.wa.g...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2015/11/wa-mandatory-open-data.html

We all want a village “feel” to our city and we like green, leafy suburbs. We want our family to live close by. We want housing to be affordable. We say so at every planning event. What we ac...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-building-restrictions-make-us-poor.html

The best place to watch in 2015: further upriver than normal, further east, towards Burswood, due to construction work at Elizabeth Quay. The fireworks barges have been repositioned. I visit...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2015/01/perth-skyshow-best-place-to-watch.html

Everyone smiles in South Perth for different reasons. I really like the Council's vision to preserve, protect and plan for this treasure in the city. I respect that they have recognised the range...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2014/09/south-perth-foreshore-vision.html

Can we have some useful discussion about Councils now, please? Local Government influences our lives every day. Surely we can do it better. As the debates become more trivial our Councils are s...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2014/07/see-you-in-cartoon-court.html

Western Australian of the Year, David Flanagan, spoke about “What Matters in WA” at the awards ceremony on Saturday. Now, what matters to you in South Perth? You are invited to tell our commu...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-matters-to-you-in-south-perth.html

Our Open Space event has no restriction of topics. Here’s how Open Space works. First some key points, then the process. Those who attend are the ones who came. Whatever gets done will be don...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2014/06/our-open-space-event.html

What do we want from Local Government, why we have it and what it could do? Surely it’s more than just size that matters? Have your say on the Department’s web site or click on Comments, belo...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2014/01/abolishing-city-of-south-perth.html

More new life at the Cygnet in Como! Bollywood movies on a Saturday or Sunday morning from early February. In recent months Graham Kahn, the Manager, has installed a really good digital project...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2014/01/bollywood-at-cygnet.html

Stardust sparkled in Como this week. A little crowd was thrilled to enjoy the first digital movie at our beloved Cygnet Cinema. It happened because Graham Kahn, the Manager, used his own money to...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/11/silver-screen-heroes.html

Where is Mill Point going? Do you have some thoughts to add? Here are some of my starting points. I’d welcome your additions to a public conversation. Click “Comments” below to publish your...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/10/mill-point-directions.html

The Cygnet Cinema needs our help. Built in 1938 by Jimmy Stiles, this Art Deco treasure has delighted our families for years. Graham, the manager, tells me that we are at the end of the road for ...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/08/saving-cygnet-cinema.html

We love our city and we really love our foreshore. That’s what the walkers, cyclists, families, dog walkers, picnickers and park visitors say. Now the Council is asking us what to do to make it...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/07/foreshore-futures.html

Farewell my old screen. We’ve seen a lot together. Through summers of cricket, midnight drama, doco’s about trips I wish I’d done and more I still might do, we shared some life together. Th...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/05/goodbye-old-tv.html

Like some money for your favourite project? Here are two fresh opportunities to get some. The Keep Australia Beautiful Beverage Container Recycling Grants   for local communities wishing to im...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/05/community-grants.html

Hello South Perth. Here are some items not in the news recently. Gum trees cut down on the slope overlooking the South Perth foreshore. Is it OK to destroy trees? Sydney Council has a nine ...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/04/south-perth-behind-news.html

The Cygnet Cinema may soon have to close its doors. One of the few remaining Art Deco cinemas in Australia, the Cygnet uses 35 mm film. In short months distribution of this medium will cease as ...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/02/save-cygnet-cinema.html

The best Australia Day ever! Lots of people said so. Two hundred volunteers, a big crowd, from all over the planet, a trusting, positive, friendly atmosphere, absolutely no rubbish at all, smiles...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2013/01/australia-day-2013-south-perth.html

Not just “me too!” Not just like the suburb next door. Not just another dormitory with a big box full of cheap shops. The idea horrifies me. This place is unique; let’s plan for a unique fu...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2012/12/our-own-future-yes-please.html

Gee I love where I live. Here’s some of what’s been going on recently and more about events happening soon.. Neighbours looking after each other. Our Neighbourhood Watch group promotes this...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2012/11/good-people-doing-amazingly-good-things.html

The State Government has ripped our local voices away. The big decisions about what gets built in our WA communities are now taken by appointed Panels of five people, with only two of them Counci...

http://comobeach.blogspot.com/2012/10/taking-back-local-authority.html