Man stabbed as 40 brawl on Armadale train

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Jon Bassett

November 07, 2009 09:00am

A MAN is in RPH after being stabbed during a brawl invovling more 40 youths on an Armadale-bound train early this morning.

The began inside a carriage at about 12.30am and  spilled onto the platform at  Maddington station.

More than eight police were called to break up the fight.

"They fought on the platform and then they begun to pelt the carriage of the train with rocks,'' Insp Andrew Martin said.

It is understood the stabbed man stayed on the train until Gosnells station where he was treated by St John Ambulance paramedics before being taken by ambulance to the hospital.

It could not be confirmed if the man was involved in the fight or was a train passenger.

A female youth on the train refused treatment for minor injuries.

The damaged train was kept at Claisebrook station, near Perth, for forensic exmination today.
Railway police and Armadale detectives are investigating.

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Ghostly visions haunt old mill memories

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BEATRICE THOMAS, The West AustralianNovember 6, 2009, 6:27 am

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There was Arthur and Annie Gibbs, who lost two children to malnutrition, had a stillborn child and whose home on their Perth Hills farm was burnt down in 1894 by a worker who threatened to murder them.

And Mary Weston, who lost her first born Francis at two days. Descendants still tend his small, hand-carved jarrah grave marker in the bush at Carmel.

There's the story of John and Emma Wallis - the policeman turned timber worker and the seamstress whose quality work kept her in demand.

And hotelier Steven Gibbs, who was jailed for cattle theft and whose tin pub was later turned into a boarding house.

Their lives were full of tragedy, triumph and scandal and make up the rich history of the Mason and Bird timber milling days as the Swan River Colony moved into the Hills in the 1860s. These days their stories come to life in a series of ghost walks run by the City of Gosnells, which are in their 15th year and start at the Hardinge Road picnic area from where participants are driven to Victoria Dam and led along a 5.5km track.

On the way, up to 20 volunteers fill the roles of ghosts, tour leaders and sound effect operators to bring early settlers to life.

The Mason and Bird timber milling days started in 1864 when merchant Benjamin Mason was granted a permit for a £20 fee to cut timber in the Darling Ranges.

In 1871, Mr Mason took on partner Francis Bird, who bought into the business for £25,000 and was thought to be the brains behind the timber tramway from Mason's Landing to a mill in Cannington.

Many descendants of the mill's founding families still live in the area in suburbs such as Pickering Brook, Walliston, Orange Grove and Gosnells.

Gosnells mayor Olwen Searle said the ghost walks transported people back to a time rich in history to learn more about an era that helped shape the area.

The ghost walks are held once a month on the full moon with the next on November 27. Tickets are $15 for adults, $9.50 for children or $41 for a family with supper afterwards. To book call 9452 9901.

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Lotto win 'long overdue'

Lotto win 'long overdue': "ONE Western Australian more than $300,000 richer after claiming a Division one prize in last night's Lotto draw.
The winning ticket was sold at Corfield News in Gosnells.

Newsagency owner Cameron Sims said the win was long overdue.

'The whole place is already buzzing with everyone trying to work out who the winner might be,' he said.

There were three Division One winners around the nation who shared in the $1 million prize pool.

About 4500 other Western Australians won prizes in in last night's draw.

Record month underlines City growth

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Mayor Olwen Searle says record housing approval levels show predictions that the City of Gosnells is heading for a population of 130,000 by 2030 are close to the mark.
“The City issued 136 housing approvals in September – an all time record - and has issued over 100 each month since June,” said Mayor Searle.
“These figures are unprecedented and underline the rapid rate at which the City is growing.
“This in turn makes it absolutely clear that the City needs ongoing and growing State and Federal funding for vital infrastructure.
“People need a huge range of services such as getting their bins emptied, access to facilities like libraries and parks and roads that can handle the extra traffic that comes along with new residents.
“The City of Gosnells is doing everything it can to meet those needs. The fantastic new Amherst Village Community Centre is just one example of the level of infrastructure that growing communities need.
Mayor Searle said the City would continue to work with the National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) to ensure the needs of residents, old and new, in fast growing areas were recognised and met.
“Partnerships with the State and Federal governments are crucial,” said Mayor Searle.
“It is beyond the capacity of local governments alone to meet the needs of this rapid growth. We need increased funding and support to ensure we can deliver what our residents need.
“These record approval figures make that clearer than ever.”



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City wins bitumen plant appeal

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The City of Gosnells has combined with the local community to successfully defend an appeal over a controversial bitumen plant.

In March, the City refused an application by engineering company Downer EDI to build the plant at 5 Marion Rd, Maddington.

Mayor Olwen Searle welcomed the appeal decision.

“The City was concerned about the potential impacts the proposal might have on nearby residents – some of whom live only 80 metres from the site,” Mayor Searle said.

“The City reacted to the appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal by using a combination of legal advice to coordinate the case and lead the arguments, and expert evidence to analyse the potential impacts of the proposal.”

Mayor Searle said the City had also joined with local ratepayer association and community representatives to enable them to give evidence about amenity and lifestyle impacts and to help reinforce the Council’s concern.

On 19 October the SAT dismissed the appeal – finding in favour of the Council.

“The decision has also provided guidance for any future situations where industrial land owners may propose to develop sensitive land uses near residential land,” Mayor Searle said.

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Family say driver who killed Kenwick boy, 2, not to blame

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THE family of a two-year-old Kenwick boy killed when he ran on to the road after buying a lollipop don't blame the driver who hit him, it was reported tonight.

Police said toddler Christian Mead was playing with other children on Wanaping Rd when the accident happened about 5.30pm.

Nine News said tonight his family did not blame the driver whose 4WD hit Christian.

Christian had been crossing the road back to his home, excited after having been bought a lollipop from a roadside ice-cream van.

The 47-year-old woman driver had stopped her silver Jeep Cherokee immediately to render assistance.

Christian, the youngest of 13 children, died at the scene.

His father, Steven Mead, said he would be greatly missed by his family.

"It's taken a piece of my heart away that can never be replaced," Mr Mead said.

More on Channel Nine News: click here

Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash, or who saw the vehicle involved before the crash, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Substation complaints surge

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RESIDENTS living near the site of a proposed Western Power substation in Maddington are concerned the facility will be an eyesore and present a bad first impression to those entering the area.

Forrestfield MLA Andrew Waddell said he had been contacted by many residents opposed to the planned 132,000-volt substation, which would have frontage on three roads – Austin Avenue, Church Road and Carole Avenue – making it easily visible from the main entrance road into Kenwick.

“I understand that in order to meet the growing electricity demands of Maddington, Kenwick and other south-eastern suburbs, a new substation is needed,” Mr Waddell said.

“However, the proposed location is a prominent one for what is likely to be an unsightly development that I don’t believe is an ideal structure to welcome people into Kenwick.

“The proposed structure requires four 9.3m gantries to support the powerlines connecting the substation to the existing transmission network, five 15m lighting masts and a 40m high communications tower – all enclosed within a 3m high solid fence.”

The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) will make a decision on the proposal and take into account recommendations by the City of Gosnells.

The City’s director of planning and sustainability Chris Terelinck said council had recommended the tower component of the substation not be approved and the applicant be requested to consider using existing cable infrastructure.

Other recommendations included the proposed development being lowered one metre below the surrounding road levels to minimise the visual impact of the building.

Both Mr Waddell and the City believed an encased design similar to those used for substations in the other states could be more appropriate.

“Other places have adopted this model successfully so perhaps it’s something worth looking at to ensure everyone’s needs are catered to,” Mr Waddell said. “I’ve written to the WAPC with this in mind, as I believe this model has potential to improve the amenity to the community and would reduce community opposition to the project.”

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Fire rips through Gosnells quarry

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More than 20 firefighters were called to a massive blaze that broke out on the top floor of a building at a blue metal quarry at Gosnells last night, causing about $500,000 damage.

The fire began about 8.20pm when a worker using oxy-acetylene equipment is believed to have started the fire at the site in Cockram Road.

The fire spread rapidly, ripping through the third floor.

Firefighters from several stations south of Perth including Armadale, City of Gosnells, Fremantle, Murdoch and Welshpool responded to the fire and took more than an hour to bring it under control.

After destroying the screening shed on the third floor, the fire was eventually extinguished about 10.30pm.

No-one was injured.

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Banner thief persists

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Reverend Ralph Terry replaces the stolen banner. Picture: Marcelo Palacios www.communitypix.com.au Buy this photo

THE virtue of persistence has been sorely tested at the Gosnells Baptist Church after three banners that were used in a recent religious campaign were stolen from the church.

The church had been taking part in a national Jesus, all about life campaign organised by the Bible Society of Australia.

Almost 2000 churches from all denominations throughout Australia took part in a bid to raise awareness of Jesus.

Gosnells Reverend Ralph Terry said several churches throughout the metropolitan area had had their banners stolen.

Gosnells topped the list with three banners stolen by a “mystery thief” during October.

Undaunted, the church commissioned a fourth banner which read: “Even if you steal this sign, yet again, we still love you and Jesus is still all about Life”.

The sense of humour was not confined to Gosnells, with a Mandurah church also coming up with a cheeky message after several banners were stolen.

It read: “OK, Jesus is hanging with thieves again.”

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Taking Action with City of Gosnells!

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Meet the all inspiring Young People from the City of Gosnells group and hear what inspiring actions they are planning on taking over the next three weeks!

SUBMITTED 23/10/2009 BY ACTNOW VIEWS 107 COMMENTS 2 UPDATED23/10/2009

11 awesome young people from The City of Gosnells in WA participated in a workshop this week. They came together to think about how they could make the world a better place for young people and discussed what that might look like. 

During the workshop the young people identified what was important to them. 

Check out some of the key issues that they identified that they cared abouthere. 

Once they had identified heaps of the possible ways they could take action  they then then identified all the great strengths, skills and interests they had in the room. They all had some great skills and a diversity of interests that they can use for taking action - we put all these into a tree of knowledge - check it out:

Then thinking about all the ways they could take action and all the skills and interests they had in the room they then divided into two groups to develop actions to assist the community.

Check out the teams planning their actions below:

The actions they came up with were to:
1. Hold an event to bring together the young people in their community, and
2. To raise awareness of young people in hospital and to fundraise to provide assistance to these young people.

Over the next three weeks the young people will put these plans into action.

They will share their experiences via regular blog updates and comment updates - reflecting on their visions for change and whether they meet their aims while also taking stock of the highlights, challenges and impacts that taking action has had on them as individuals.

Send them your support, find out more about the actions they are doing and hear about how their actions are coming along by checking out:

1. The comments section below; and
2. The blogs on their member profile pages. To get to their member profile pages click on the links below:

http://www.actnow.com.au/Members/shanny15.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/roslyn1511.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/janiemwatts.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/eloiseeloise.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/aliciarawl.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/mihajla.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/tahnayb.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/laurenmac.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/nic829.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/jordanc.aspxhttp://www.actnow.com.au/Members/Cmaio.aspx

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