We Have a Great Opportunity

Maylands is unique inner city riverside suburb located northeast of Perth’s CBD. It’s always been a place of potential – with its access to our beautiful river, its fascinating heritage and being just a hop and a step from the centre of Perth. The time has now arrived for Maylands’ full potential to be realised.

A range of factors are currently converging in Maylands – a new urban design framework, community infrastructure development like The RISE multipurpose centre, energetic local businesses, a number of artists and ‘cultural creatives‘ living in the area, the presence of active community associations and groups and a diverse cultural and social mix. Taken together, these factors present us with an exciting opportunity to make Maylands what we know it can be: an inspiring and resilient urban neighbourhood that enriches and sustains the lives of the people who call it home and those who visit.

How do we ensure all of these elements are successfully woven together into a vibrant community fabric? That’s where Creative Maylands comes in. We believe it is the threads of creativity and culture that will bind our community together through change and development and ensure our suburb becomes a rich and beautiful tapestry for all to enjoy.

We invite you to get involved.

Update on application for liquor barn in Maylands

Back in August 2011, we gave you the heads up about the proposal by Coles to develop a First Choice Liquor Superstore in the heart of Maylands (at 207 Guildford Road which is the big empty block next to the KFC), motivating many of you to get involved in having your say about this proposed development.

One of the key values that underpins what we do at Creative Maylands is community participation, so whether agreeing or disagreeing with our own stance on the development (check out the comments on our post for some diverse views), we are genuinely excited that people care enough about our neighbourhood to want to have a say about how it develops.

For an update on where things are up to with the proposed development, check out these articles from the Eastern Reporter:

Liquor licence application: 29 Nov 2012 and 17 Jan 2012
Development application: 13 Sept 2011 and 3 Jan 2012

The decision on whether or not to grant the development application will be decided by a Development Assessment Panel (DAP) THIS Wednesday 1 February. Members of the public can attend to observe proceedings (a good crowd will help the panel to take the community’s concerns seriously). Nominated representatives will be able to address the panel on the community’s behalf (e.g. President of the Maylands Ratepayers and Residents’ Association).

DAP meeting details:

Wednesday, 1 Feb 2012
5:30 – 6:30pm
City of Bayswater offices
61 Broun Ave, Morley

A public art policy for the City of Bayswater?

Check out the article from today’s edition of the Eastern Reporter newspaper (p.15) discussing a possible public art policy for the City of Bayswater. As you’ll see, Creative Maylands believes public art can do a lot more than reduce graffiti.

Where would you like to see public art in Maylands?

Making Maylands Train Station a great place

The quality of local public spaces has a big impact on the overall vibrancy and community connectedness experienced in an area. Maylands is no exception.

One key public space in the heart of Maylands is the train station. Creative Maylands sees the train station as an important site in the overall functioning and vitality of the Maylands main street and shopping precinct. The station provides an anchor point at the intersection of two key streets – Eighth Avenue and Whatley Crescent. It offers the only public space at that end of town (aside from the streets themselves). The station also serves as an important link between parts of Maylands on the east and west side of the railway line and is an entry point for visitors to the suburb.

For these reasons, Creative Maylands is interested in initiating and supporting creative activities (and where possible advocating for other place making improvements) that will help make the Maylands Train Station a lively destination. We have been dreaming up some ideas of our own but you can imagine our excitement when we connected with Curtin University student Naomi Davies who is currently researching the potential of train stations to function as community hubs. With very little arm-twisting we were able to convince Naomi to use Maylands Train Station as the case study site for her research and have been supporting her development of a community engagement process to aid her research.

Station forecourt - one of the many spaces with potential!

This is where you come in. What are your ideas for Maylands Train Station? How do you think we can make it a more vibrant, attractive and user-friendly place? Is there something you would like to get involved in making happen at the station? Come along and share your ideas as part of a community conversation on how to make Maylands Station a great public place. It’s happening on Saturday, 10^th September – you’ll find full details in this flyer.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Maylands: Hub for creativity and culture or mecca for cheap grog?

Coles-owned Liquorland want to open a First Choice Liquor Superstore in the heart of Maylands (at 207 Guildford Road which is the big empty block next to the KFC). The proposed 1,250 square metre liquor superstore would be the equivalent of between 6 and 10 Liquorland stores in terms of store size and turnover. There are already four outlets selling packaged liquor within walking distance of the site of the proposed store.

If, like Creative Maylands, you’d like to see our unique riverside suburb develop into a hub for creativity and culture rather than become a mecca for cheap grog and all the associated health and social problems we know follow on from this, then we’d encourage you to join with other local residents and community groups and our local member for parliament in opposing the liquor store development.

It’s easy – there are two petitions you can sign. Online versions of the petitions aren’t acceptable so you’ll need to do this old skool style by downloading hardcopies of the petition/s, getting your friends and neighbours to sign (nice excuse for a catch-up cuppa) and returning them to the relevant groups listed below:

1. Petition to be tabled in Parliament by Maylands MLA Lisa Baker. This is in opposition to the liquor licence application. Signed copies of the petition need to be returned to Lisa’s office by September 10. Anyone who cares about Maylands can sign this one!

Download petition #1

2. Petition to be tabled at a City of Bayswater Council meeting. This is in opposition to a development application for the site. Signed copies of this petition need to be returned to Maylands Ratepayers and Residents Association (address details are on the petition) by September 10. This one’s for City of Baysie locals!

Download petition #2