WHILE encouraging inner city living has been high on the agenda of Perth City Council, it has also posed some problems.
The council has offered huge planning fee bonuses to developers proposing inner city accommodation. The initial planning fee is cut in half, and if the development comes to fruition, the fee is halved again.
It also gives new inner city residents a three-year rates holiday.
Among the biggest problems facing inner city residents is noise from city services such as rubbish collection and street cleaning.
This has forced council to reassess how it runs those services.
According to council CEO Garry Hunt, the operation of its sanitation services is continually under review.
Emerging issues include the need to continually reschedule garbage and cleaning rounds.
The council has bought new street sweepers that are quieter than older models.
Mr Hunt said noise-related issues such as what times trucks and plant could operate had to be considered.
While these services are required 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it is impractical for some service vehicles to enter city areas during daylight. Restaurateurs argue that large, slow-moving trucks are incompatible with alfresco dining and there are safety issues regarding council staff competing with city traffic.
Even rubbish handling is changing. The amount of rubbish leaving the city has increased considerably, putting strain on council’s landfill site in Mindarie.
The increase of high-rise apartment buildings in the city means one bin per apartment is no longer practical.
Mr Hunt said council was moving towards providing more frequent rubbish collections for these buildings.
