Dear Echo News,
Yet another beautiful, sunny, Sunday market day in Kalamunda and, as usual, Central Mall and Haynes Street are crowded with visitors but still the public parklet outside the small coffee shop at the top of Haynes Street remains forlornly deserted.
And yes, the coffee shop is now closed and has been since the Covid pandemic, but even when it was open the parklet was sparsely utilised by the public, even on market days.
However, the City of Kalamunda is presently revamping Stirk Park, and I am sure this transportable parklet would be well utilised if it were to be incorporated into the upgrade.
C Coulthard
Gooseberry Hill
Dear Echo News,
As I walked to the Mt Helena Deli last Friday with my four-year-old son in tow, passing piles and scatterings of litter, across bushland damaged by illegal off-road vehicles, though thick plumes of wet-leaf bonfire smoke, to the sounds of chainsaws and motorbikes grating the silence, I couldn’t help but feel depressed by the seemingly endless list of human impacts to these placid hills.
Then, after several failed attempts to ‘tap’ my debit card to purchase our dinner, a stranger caught my gaze with his own and offered to pay.
Fumbling with my iPhone in a failed attempt to top my card up, and self-consciously feeling the gaze of many other customers, he stepped to the counter, swiped his credit card, and paid for our dinner.
I didn’t catch your name, kind sir, but I would like to express my sincerest thanks for this act of immense kindness that in a flash restored my faith in humanity.
It reminded me of a saying that you clearly must’ve read: Be human. Be kind. Be both.
S Cherriman
Mt Helena
