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11 JULY 2026 | VOL .53 NO.28
Penny-pinching freezes fun
By JEN REWELL
The decaying Matthews Netball Centre in Jolimont has been added to the long list of Cambridge recreation facilities waiting for essential repairs.
Users are furious that they pay a maintenance fee as part of their council rent, but the repairs have been held up for years by a “high-level” council probe. Essential resurfacing works at the busy netball centre have been dumped by Cambridge in the fallout over its controversial leisure assets masterplan. The netball upgrade is the highest-profile project to fall foul of Cambridge’s decision to abandon sporting maintenance to focus on its LAMP. Bowling greens and wheelchair-friendly playgrounds have also been dumped from the coming council budget, despite Cambridge assuring sport groups that only “new works” would be affected by the scheme. Groups were told that approved and scheduled work on busy facilities would not be included in the July budget. But they say they were still required to make regular payments to the council’s building asset management fund that was used to fund upgrades and maintenance. Perth Netball Association president Fran Farrington said she was shocked that Cambridge had abandoned the plan to resurface 18 courts at the Jolimont facility. “PNA was recently advised that all capital works at sporting facilities are paused until the LAMP is substantially progressed,” she said. “This means the planned resurfacing on courts last upgraded in 2013, and now showing significant deterioration, will be delayed for several years.” Ms Farrington said the PNA’s lease required it to make quarterly contributions to the council’s maintenance fund, The PNA, which has 7500 members, was told in June last year that the court upgrade would be in this year’s budget. It was told later that preliminary documentation had begun, and in March that the tender process would begin once funding was approved. Floreat resident Adrian Corp questioned the council’s priorities. “The Town has decided to spend $300,000 on a consultant to prepare a LAMP that the community has not identified as a priority, and to use that plan as the reason to delay $1.5million worth of projects that the
14% rate hike shock • Please turn to page 49
By BEN DICKINSON
Lucas Liu, 8, and his mother Elena Wang enjoy the swing at the crumbling Perry Lakes playground. Photo: Jack Maddern
deficits, shambolic financial records and Serious financial “ongoing catastrophic problems at Nedlands risks”. council are set to hit “The arithmetic is residents’ hip pockets hard to escape,” councillor Julian Coleman next month after staff told a meeting on flagged a record 14% Tuesday. rate rise. “Rate increases The rise – almost trihave sat below Perth ple Perth’s CPI increase CPI for most of the past – would be the biggest decade. rate hike in Perth this Arthur Kyron “Deferring this is year and the biggest in just kicking the can Nedlands since 1998. Mayor Leonie Browner has down the road, with interest.” Councillors voted 7-1 on backed the increase, saying it was needed to make up for years Tuesday to send the proposed hike out for public advertising, of below-inflation rate rises. “I am acutely aware of the kickstarting a 21-day public ongoing cost-of-living pressures consultation process. They will vote on a draft budgfacing households, but these same cost pressures also apply et in late July or August after to local government,” she said. receiving public submissions. Only councillor Rebecca “Council’s proposal of a 14% rate increase strikes a balance Coghlan opposed advertising the between ongoing services and 14% figure, telling the meeting the City needed to be “leaner”. planning for the future.” “I haven’t seen anything indiThe hike comes on the back of a damning report by acting CEO cating that we are going to cut Arthur Kyron in February that the costs and [make] internal found the council was at a “cri- efficiencies,” she said. “I want to encourage the comsis point” with systemic budget
munity to come out in droves, every possible way they can, to object.” Ms Coghlan is the only member of the former council, which was sacked by Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley last year, to have been re-elected. “We’ve got a cost-of-living crisis in Western Australia,” she told councillors. “No-one [else] is doing this to their ratepayers.” Residents in Nedlands’ least expensive properties – who are on the minimum rate – would see their bills go up $213 compared to last year. Some residents will suffer much bigger increases thanks to quadrennial revaluations by Landgate that take effect this year. A big chunk of the extra rates revenue will have to be set aside for workers who were underpaid over a six-year period after an apparent error in interpreting the City’s enterprise bargaining agreement in 2020. Mr Kyron put the wage bill at “at least $1.5million” in his • Please turn to page 49
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