Opinion: Wasted opportunity as Perth City turns back on Piccadilly theatre

OF all the negative Perth City Council issues to have made headlines, none has made me angrier than the decision to not offer financial support to the plan to turn the Piccadilly theatre into a live music venue.

A terribly wasted opportunity.

There is a major lack of good live music venues in Perth and particularly within the CBD.

The development above the sunken train line adjacent to Wellington Street offered a perfect opportunity to provide entertainment venues of all types.

But instead, it’s nothing more than office blocks and cafes.

It’s as sterile as most of the CBD.

The Arena itself surely should have included a smaller room for local bands to perform in, not just more corporate function rooms.

Besides providing some life to the CBD, live music venues provide both entertainment and an income source to young people.

It provides diversity to a town that is rapidly turning into little more than a sterile mono-culture represented by the seemingly unstoppable building of apartment blocks.

Lisa Scaffidi, do something good for once. Broaden your mind and think about what the city could be.

The excuse you gave for failing to support this brilliant idea is unacceptable and short-sighted. Please reconsider. This matters, it really does.

TONY REED, Mt. Hawthorn.