A Safety Barrier built by Main Roads on Great Eastern Highway at Mann St. in Mundaring has created an unintentional hazard: a blind spot for traffic turning right onto Great Eastern Highway.  
 
The fence was designed to force pedestrians to cross the busy highway in marked crossings, but from the angle of view from cars waiting at the Mann St. intersection, the vertical bars of the safety fence line up to become opaque.  This makes it difficult for drivers trying to cross east-bound lanes to see if cars are coming, and to determine which lane they are in to judge if it is safe to start the turn.

The upgrade cost $770,000.  Save Perth Hills suggests this poorly designed feature be fixed before there is a major accident.

A new development of 55, ½ acre blocks in a suburban-style layout in Parkerville is now out for public comment.  Stoneville-Parkerville Progress Assoc. held a public information meeting on Jan 15. 50 residents attended. The development is owned by the Parkerville Children’s Home. It's titled: LOT 1854 BEACON ROAD & LOT 1915 ROLAND ROAD, PARKERVILLE LOCAL SUBDIVSION & INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN, or LSIP 368.


Concerns expressed were: 

Inadequate traffic access to the developments on existing narrow roads.

Excess stormwater runoff from hard surfaces (roads, roofs, driveways, verandas), temporarily stored in basins, then overflowing through open street culverts.

Sewage from septic systems on steep slopes running off with stormwater.

Elimination of native bush including several 150+ year old trees that are Black Cockatoo nesting sites (on ½ acre blocks owners are allowed to completely clear all vegetation).

Introduction of a relatively dense neighborhood into a bushfire-prone area.

Also troubling is that the development was put out for public comment Dec 19 thru Jan 28, during the holiday season when no one is watching, many people are on annual leave, and many involved offices—Shire, developer, proponent—are closed. The public notice signs were placed at the far ends of the property hidden from the main corner where they might be noticed. The LSIP was buried 4 pages back in the Shire website and difficult to search. It makes one wonder if this was all deliberate, to sneak this project thru with no one noticing.

Public must submit their comments by 4 pm Jan 28 to the Shire of Mundaring.

  The Pakervile Tavern is back: restored, reopened and rejuvinated, once again under the management of the Manolas family, who've owned it since the '70's.  Serving an array of cold beers and ciders on tap, a wine list and superb menu.  Dine or enjoy a coldie inside or out in the gardens.
    Stop by for a visit and enjoy this colourful piece of Hills history. 
The menu and events schedule:  http://parkervilletavern.com.au/

Trek the Trails participants enjoyed beautiful weather this year.  Save Perth Hills attended the fair at the end of the trail and distributed free Save Perth's Hills car stickers.  If you received one, please make sure it finds it's way onto the rear window of your car.  Consider it a rolling petition. And if you feel strongy about preserving the Hills, contact your local Member of Parliament

The Perth Hills Planning Bill is designed to address the Hills biggest issues such as inappropriate development, destructive quarrying, mining and logging, and the introduction of toxic incinerators at waste tips.
 
Currently the Hills are governed by 7 separate cities and shires, each with different sensibilities and agendas. The Bill would unify the Hills into a Hills Region at a level above local government. Development would be reviewed by a committee of appointed experts applying a set of principles that would preserve current social and economic institutions, and the environment. The committee’s recommendations would have to be addressed by state and local
government. 

The Bill is up for debate in State Parliament this year.  Please contact your local member and let them know you support the Bill. Without public pressure, the Bill will not pass.  The State election is in March, the MPs will listen.

To read the actual text of the bill, click the Planning Bill drop down at the top of this page.

Save Perth Hills is in favour of the Anaerobic Digestion Option, but opposed to the Gasification option.
 
We have participated in the consultation process, including Red Hill Alliance meetings, EMRC Council meetings and EMRC seminar workshops.   We have also done research on our own. We feel we have a good understanding on the issues, which we will not rehash in this submission.

We support Anaerobic Digestion. It is the simplest, best, cheapest solution.  It will eliminate 70% of the gross tonnage of input waste with no environmental impact.  It will produce energy and fertilizer. It is safe, proven technology with little
liability.

Gasification involves burning waste, which produces PCB’s Dioxins, heavy metals, etc. Though the proposed plant will have a filtration system, no filtration system can work at 100% efficiency, 100% of the time.   Even if it did, tonnes
of concentrated filtrated toxic solids would go into the RED Hill landfill which is already leaking. This landfill is located upstream of the Swan Valley agricultural area and the Swan River.

If the filtration system on the exhaust stack doesn’t work at 100% efficiency 100% of the time, the toxins that get by will be spread by the daily morning easterly winds over the metro area, then in the afternoon, will be spread back toward the hills by the afternoon westerlies. Hundreds of thousands of residents will be affected. 
 
If this scheme fails to operate at environmental standards, as many have worldwide, the results will be a public health disaster. And when the plant is shut down, it will create a financial disaster for the cities and shires that will have to cover the cost.  Though financial issues aren’t part of the EPA’s concern, what will be a concern is that the waste processing capability of a bankrupt EMRC will be compromised.

Save Perth Hills feel that the 20% additional tonnage that would be processed by building a gasification systeinstead of an Anaerobic Digestion system is not worth the risk.

    A presentation by Wheatbelt Railway Retention Alliance co-ordinator Jane Fuchsbichler was held at the Hub in Mundaring, Tuesday 27 June.  Attending  were heads of many ratepayers groups, Shire councillors,  MPs from Labor and the Greens.  No Members from the Liberal Party attended.
               
     The Tier 3 railroad system that has for decades moved  grain
from the wheat belt east of Perth, is about to be shut down, putting hundreds of trucks on the roads between Brookton and Northam, and the coastal ports. This will have a negative effect on road safety and traffic, tear up the road beds and will consume an additional hundred-fifty-thousand litres of fuel per year which will pollute the air and contribute to climate change. 

    The State-owned system was privatised in 2000. Brookfield, the Canadian company that owns it, says it would cost too much to repair the track so they are closing it down. WA exports 12 million tonnes of grain a year, much of it through the port at Kwinana. The trains currently move thru the city to the ports with little impact.  The trucks will drive down Brookton Highway and Grt. Eastern Highway, then Roe Highway to Russell Road
                 
     The Government has refused to subsidise the repairs for $93 million, which is less than the cost of the Great Eastern Highway-Roe Highway intersection, a fifth the price of the new Foreshore development, and a tenth the price of the new Footy Oval.  The wear and tear alone on the roads used by the grain trucks will amount to that in a few years. A billion dollars in Royalties’ to Regions money is sitting waiting to be used, but the Nationals who control it aren’t interested. Ironically, CBH, the grain hauler, just purchased a new fleet of trains.
             
This makes no sense, environmentally, socially, or economically.