Advertisement

Perth council accused of asset grab

Relations between the City of Perth and its neighbours have turned icy, with Subiaco and Cambridge joining critics of the capital city's attempt to carve out key assets from their councils.

Subiaco mayor Heather Henderson yesterday signalled she would fight Perth's plans to take Subiaco's stadium, hospitals and commercial centre without its main residential areas.

Cambridge mayor Simon Withers accused Perth of "an ego- driven treasure hunt".

Vincent mayor John Carey said it made no sense for the city to consider taking Rokeby Road from Subiaco over Beaufort Street from Vincent.

Of the five councils Perth has proposed taking land from under various submissions to the Local Government Advisory Board - Subiaco, Vincent, Victoria Park, Cambridge and Nedlands - all have concerns.

On Tuesday Perth councillors agreed to make an additional LGAB submission to absorb parts of Subiaco and Cambridge.

The move upset Subiaco, which wanted to be taken over fully, and surprised Cambridge, which had not been in Perth's sights before.

Perth had already put Victoria Park offside with its push for Crown Perth and Belmont Racecourse and Nedlands has criticised it on several fronts.

Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi defended Perth's vision against accusations of cherrypicking, saying it was important not to "pussyfoot" around the edges of reform. She said Perth consistently believed it should govern key infrastructure and high-density living.

The mayors of Perth, Vincent, Victoria Park, Subiaco and Nedlands met yesterday and Ms Scaffidi tweeted a photo from the lunch, saying: "Proof we do talk!"

Ms Henderson told ABC Radio yesterday that Perth could have "all of us or none of us".

Mr Withers said Perth "appears to have misunderstood the objectives of the reform process".

He said instead of developing a master plan for the CBD and surrounds, it wanted to collect high-profile sites to boost its status.