Thanks for the help

Dear Echo News,

My name is David Howell and I live in Parkerville and I was walking across Great Eastern Highway opposite Seaborne Street, and I fell over and hit my head on the pavement.

Within two minutes six people and two police officers came to help me.

I want to sincerely thank all of them for their help in making sure I was okay.

D Howell

Parkerville

Drivers must change their ways

Dear Echo News,

It has been interesting with all the comments from Dr Hughes and N Mclean about the driving habits of a substantial number of drivers up and down Great Eastern Highway from Mundaring to Midland.

With the new 70km/h limit from Lionel Road up and down Greenmount it really has made no difference to driver behaviour.

N Mclean is right in many ways.

Even along Great Eastern Highway from Mundaring many exceed the 80km/h limit with some notable incidents happening.

Some trucks seem to ignore their requirements also, many do comply.

Many motorists fail to stop at stop signs.

With modern vehicles there is a thing called cruise control.

Why not use instead of ignoring the accepted guidelines?

I often wonder if there is/are some impairment with many vehicle operators thus they should not be on the road.

Many fail to stop at Scott Street hence the number of near misses and incidents.

Please drive in a safe and courteous and careful manner.

You might be the next incident.

E Smith

Glen Forrest

Trucks needed to deliver

Dear Echo News,

Has Mr Hughes any idea of the traffic that uses the Great Eastern highway through Midland and the heavy vehicles that are required to deliver goods to the businesses along this route?

Thankfully, Main Roads also recognise the issue with the railway station requiring this access for buses and drop offs.

You only have to look at the disaster which is now Clayton Street to see how to really cause major traffic snarl ups.

I think we need to leave well alone, until we don’t need road transport at all.

Is that the future?

N Mclean   

Mundaring

Glyphosate spraying a concern

Dear Echo News,

On January 9 about 10.30am in the morning I observed the spraying at the High Wycombe train station precinct in high winds, of deadly glyphosate, well-known as a carcinogenic chemical and banned in many countries.

Unusually, the sprayer walked within less than a meter of three girls sitting on the steel seats (near the 277/276 bus stop).

He had the nozzle down and was apparently spraying into cracks (with no evidence of any plant life) as he passed them.

The sprayer at this time had a sign on display and then came back on the other side.

The sign reads: “Caution Glyphosate being applied. Avoid contact with this area whilst the sign is displayed.”

How is one to “avoid contact” when the spray can easily be carried in high winds, and the sprayer intrudes where people are sitting?

Two sprayers then continued to spray plants further away.

Many people would consider this a dangerous activity and to come so close to children it is doubly so.

I think the nature of the activity should be discontinued.

This is the third time I have had to draw attention to irresponsible spraying in high winds of carcinogenic sprays in Kalamunda City.

About seven years ago I advised Minister Day of spraying in high winds using a swinging spraying apparatus from a truck driving outside St Barnabas Anglican Church in Kalamunda  as my wife, with intensive asthma, was walking right beside it.

A few years ago a truck sprayed glyphosate in our street.

The City of Kalamunda and the WA Department of Health should show greater interest in dangerous chemical spraying.

P Limb

Kalamunda

Salvos financial support

Dear Echo News,

Most Australians have never heard of one of the most effective forms of financial support available to them and The Salvation Army says that needs to change.

As new research reveals that more than 9.7 million Australians (44 per cent) will start 2026 in debt and almost nine in 10 (89 per cent) feel the same or more stressed about their finances than last year, The Salvos are urging the nation to uncover a resource that could transform their financial wellbeing: Moneycare, the organisation’s free and confidential financial counselling service.

Moneycare has provided more than 48,000 sessions of care last financial year alone. The service supports people to get on top of debt, create realistic budgets, navigate financial stress and build long term stability — all at no cost.

This Moneycare week, we want people across the country to do a financial reset. Financial counselling is free, confidential and incredibly effective — but many people don’t realise it exists.

Whether you need help creating a budget, support getting out of debt, or someone to talk to about realistic money plans, Moneycare is here for you. You are not alone, and there is no shame in reaching out.

If you or someone you know needs support from The Salvation Army’s Moneycare, please visit our website or call 1800 722 363.

K Hartnett

Salvation Army Moneycare