Currently if you live in Perth you cant miss the amount of construction taking place in the city due to the booming economy. This is all on the back of the mining industry and has spawned development in the city on a massive scale. Living in the city is great and in my local area of East Perth the construction is mad. There are apartments going up all over the place on nearly every street and we even have a new fire station being built close by.
There are many downsides to all the construction, namely the traffic, the dust and the noise of trucks and heavy equipment very early in the morning. It always a shame when some of the older buildings disappear and are replaced by what seems like a copy of another steel and glass building down the road. Look if an older building is crappy then hey I’m all for re-development and the bringing of new life to an area.
What i don’t like and this is my rant for the day is when they demolish old buildings, move out established businesses in the area and then let a vacant lot sit there for months and months and sometimes even years. One such example that is close by to where i shop and live is 311 Hay St East Perth. This prime spot of land directly opposite one of our most popular tourist attractions the Perth Mint sits in a state of limbo after nearly 9 months and has become a complete eyesore in this area. This is supposed to be an apartment development at some point.
What really gets me is that there used to be a thriving car hire business located at this address that had been there for 15 years that helped bring in tourists to the area and provided subsequent flow on business to other local businesses. This part of Hay St on a weekday or weekend used to be busy with people and tourists and now sometimes when i walk there on a weekend its like a ghost town. Yes I’m proud to say a friend of mine ran Ace Rent A Car at this address and were forced to move to East Victoria Park. What are we left with now? Sweet nothing as the pictures show, including a metal fence, graffiti and a dust bowl.
I have spoken to some local business owners and they agree this just is not good enough and brings down the whole area. Rumor is that the development is being held up by planning approvals with the council. You would think that all this stuff would be sorted out early and when development starts, it gets underway and you don’t end up with what we have here now.
Well you cant help but feel angry when you see this where you live and work.
End of rant – time for coffee
