Plea for weekly bins

Dear Echo News,

I am calling for the Shire of Mundaring to reintroduce a weekly red rubbish bin service.

Currently the red bin which contains smelly rubbish is only used once a fortnight.

I feel this forces people to put rubbish in the two other bins designed for FOGO and garden waste because their red bin is full by the end of the fortnight.

There are lots of young families with lots of nappies and I myself use a stoma bag which has to be disposed of every day.

Lots of elderly people also use adult nappies as when we get old we can’t hold on to things like we used to – this is all smelly stuff.

Why can’t the shire revert back to the red bin being collected every week?

J Haggarty

Greenmount

Community hub is a concern

Dear Echo News,

I recently participated in a focus group organised by the City of Kalamunda to inform their residents of the proposed High Wycombe Community Hub.

This is the project funded by state and federal governments to the tune of $60 million.

This is the perfect example of a generational investment by the governments of all forms that will at its present costing lead to an impossible impost on local ratepayers for many years to come.

There is no denying that a swimming facility is long overdue in the City of Kalamunda, however this ‘McMansion’ is costed at $90m to $120m and is not fully funded.

The city is working closely with funding bodies to minimise its exposure.

With even a concept loan of $10m and the uncosted but enormous impost of ongoing maintenance such a ‘Taj Mahal’ should not be considered.

Until now all details of concepts, costs and plans have been confidential through city reports although some consultancy over expenditures have already occurred.

This Trojan gift horse is not worth having.

M Rolfe

Gooseberry Hill

ASIO is too visible

Dear Echo News,

ASIO boss, Mike Burgess seems unable to properly do his job effectively – which is, above all else, to be ‘invisible’, ‘unknown’ and, most importantly, publicly silent so that his agency can quietly get on with its work.

To hear him speculating about foreign actors who might do Australia harm defeats the purpose of having a security agency.

He needs to be stood aside and/or given a desk job and forbidden from speaking at public and media forums.

Of late, he’s become a media tart, far too keen to espouse a political ideology and to foment unrest – perhaps in promotion of his own career prospects – and that serves Australia’s security poorly.

P Carman

Hovea

Highway to rubbish

Dear Echo News,

The stretch of highway from Roe Highway between Kalamunda Road and Great Eastern Highway is littered with car fenders, a smashed car, tradies buckets etc.

Surely Main Roads can do better.

This reflects poorly on our whole area.

B Lovel

Lesmurdie

In response to Main Roads and Kaarakin partner to mitigate bird strikes:

JF Woods: 

Terrifying that so many (cockatoos) are killed. I live in the south west and drive forest roads from time to time. Often they are sitting in the middle of the road and are slow to move and fly off.  Just have to slow down until they are safe.

F Hynes: 

This is the important news that our useless WA media needs to present. Instead, every night we get an update on footballers and their knee injuries plus biased presentation of a few local items.

Unbiased, investigative journalism is dead in WA. We desperately need a media outlet that features the important issues that our beleaguered wildlife are suffering. Too many humans spreading into their few remaining habitats, dangerous drivers, unsafe plantings by Main Roads, a government that isn’t listening to a public demanding an intelligent, impartial approach to our outdated animal welfare and environmental laws.

K Esslemont

It would be awful to lose the banksias as well. A shame. A tall barrier next to the road might keep them on the right side and not fly into traffic. If they take out these banksias there will be less food for them. I wish they were transplantable.

J Tempest:

Food sources near roads increases risk of fatalities since they swoop down over the road as they leave the bushes.

In response to Mundaring road extension criticism over Nth Stoneville link:

N Pen:

Wait a minute. Wasn’t a significant part of the NIMBY opposition for North Stoneville development the lack of sufficient road access? You can’t have it both ways! Be more mindful of those that do not have a home. Plenty of room up here in the hills and roads aren’t really the problem. It’s those not wanting to share their environment.

S Guy:

So the rate payers will be funding $690,000 towards the key to obtaining the approval, and the shire, who have applied for funding support, and local MP still claim to remain in opposition to the approval? That all makes sense. There are some untruths here, it appears.