Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have very recently been given an opportunity to talk in this place about an issue of great concern to the people who are part of the suburb of Wanneroo within my electorate of Cowan. As members would probably not know, Cowan is bounded on the west side by the Mitchell Freeway but basically through the centre of Cowan running north to south there is an arterial road called Wanneroo Road. Around the centre of the electorate this road is intersected with Ocean Reef Road. On the north-west corner of this intersection there is a little oasis of very pleasant houses known as the Regent Waters Estate, which is part of the suburb of Wanneroo.

Unfortunately, a number of streets within this estate are affected by a great amount of hooning, reckless driving and transiting traffic that comes from further north to avoid a set of traffic lights. The problem for a lot of local people is that the amenity of their lifestyle is greatly affected by this hooning and through traffic. The people have nothing to do with the area; they are merely there to avoid having to sit at another set of traffic lights on Wanneroo Road. The intersection on Wanneroo Road gives people the opportunity to turn west onto Ocean Reef Road and then go down the Mitchell Freeway into the central business district of Perth. A lot of people take that route. As I said before, people detouring through the Regent Waters Estate impacts negatively on the people who live on James Spiers Drive, Tyne Crescent and Backshall Place.

I have been involved in this issue with the local people over a couple of years now since before I was elected. I was interested in trying to help resolve the issue. It is the responsibility of the City of Wanneroo to resolve this issue. I wrote to the former state minister for infrastructure and to the Director-General of Main Roads in Western Australia suggesting certain changes to the streets and the blocking of certain streets to alleviate the problem. The response I got at that time was that it was up to the City of Wanneroo. About a year ago or a little longer it was recommended to the elected members of the City of Wanneroo that a trial take place of certain roadblocks and changes to the design of the streets. The city’s councillors, led by the two local councillors, decided that they would not proceed with that and that they would rather wait for an extra turning lane to be put on the southbound lane of Wanneroo Road to turn into Ocean Reef Road. They thought that would resolve the problem.

Sadly, that has not been the case. There has been no resolution. The problems for the good people living on James Spiers Drive, Tyne Crescent and Backshall Place continue. It is a great source of disappointment to me that this matter has dragged on since way before my involvement. I look forward to the elected members of the City of Wanneroo doing what is right, stepping up and making sure that the future amenity of the people who live on these affected streets is looked after. It is right for elected members to do that. They have the opportunity to make changes to these streets. I look forward to that being done as quickly as possible. They have missed opportunities in the past. It is their responsibility. It is about time they got on and did their jobs so that the people in that area have the best quality of life. It is a beautiful little area that is being let down by the lack of action by the City of Wanneroo.