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Corflute dumper fined
5 SEPTEMBER 2026 | VOL .53 NO.36
By JACK MADDERN
New cameras have snared their first illegal rubbish dumper in Mosman Park.
The council said its CCTV crackdown on illegal dumping helped secure its first successful prosecution this week. It said a man who lived north of the river used an unregistered vehicle to dump items including an old sofa chair, a safe, and a Celia Hammond corflute, at the corner of Stirling Highway and St Leonards Street. He was caught on a mobile CCTV camera, one of three the Town deployed to dumping hotspots this year. The Town fined the man $400 but said penalties could go as high as $62,500 should a court determine the littering constituted a public risk. Mayor Paul Shaw said the prosecution showed the council was serious about illegal dumping and hoped it would make • Please turn to page 77
These levers connected to cables and semaphore signals once controlled our trains and kept them safe. Their restorer Bob Barker shows how they now operate after his 10-year project. Photo: Ross Swanborough
Vintage Subi box signals again
By LLOYD GORMAN
Mosman Park says it caughtredhanded the dumper of these items, including what appears to be a Celia Hammond corflute.
The landmark signal box that once dominated the old Subiaco train station will become operational again 40 years after it was last in action.
The refurbished box will be opened at Whiteman Park on Sunday September 20.
Volunteer Bob Barker, 80, has spent the past 10 years devoting half a day a week to restoring the century-old signal box to original condition. “It’s a real blast to get it finished, it’s been a big job,” he said. “It is one of only two in the state that work, the other one is just down the line at Mussel
Pool, so they are very special.” Bob, a former telecoms technician, previously restored the old Cottesloe signal box, now also at Whiteman Park, before tackling the mammoth project of bringing the Subiaco box back to active duty. It was moved in 1923 from Geraldton to Subiaco, where
it controlled shunting trains on the Perth-Fremantle line and train movements within the yards and sidings serving factories just to the north. It was badly burned in a fire in 1955 but was operational again in just three weeks, Bob said. “Over the years the yard • Please turn to page 77
Business plan sells a ferry tale By LLOYD GORMAN
The proposed new Swan River ferry service would lose $2.75million a year, say critics who have scrutinised the state government business plan.
They also predict the plan could become a half-billiondollar white elephant. The critics say that the state government, to achieve its business plan estimate that the Swan River ferry service would raise $11million a year, would need 3,942,000 passengers. That meant every ferry would have to be filled to capacity 18 hours a day, every day of the year. The South Perth ferry runs at 16% capacity. A 20-page summary of the $2million business case was pub-
lished on the Public Transport Authority website two weeks ago. It came as the PTA, the ferry operator, applied for an exemption to travel faster than the 10-knot Swan River speed limit so it could meet the demands of its timetable. The exemption would “improve the reliability of ferry operations by allowing vessels to meet the scheduled timetable after needing to slow or vary the ferry route in response to safety considerations or inclement weather,” the application to the Department of Transport said. “Additional exemptions are proposed to be sought within the 8-knot speed restriction areas.” Much of Matilda Bay – where the controversial terminal is
planned – is in the 8-knot zone. A return trip between Elizabeth Quay, Matilda Bay and Applecross is estimated to take 75 minutes. The ferry business plan refers to patronage modelling that assesses ferries running on 15, 20 or 30-minute frequencies. But the PTA speed limit application said it intended to run ferries every 25 minutes from 6am to midnight. A cost-benefit analysis framework contained in the business plan put total costs at $525million and total benefits at $893million. Nedlands MP Jonathan Huston – who asked Transport Minister Rita Saffioti to release the • Please turn to page 77
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