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proudly serving Wyndham
5 AUGUST, 2026
Good deeds at St Peter Apostle
Students Harini and Edith prepare for Wakakirri. (Damjan Janevski) 567612_05
A group of 47 students at St Peter Apostle Primary School in Hoppers Crossing have been practising their Wakakirri performance hoping to scoop another state award. The school received a Wakakirri state award in 2024. This year’s Wakakirri theme is ‘Guardians of us’ and the students, with the help of performing arts coordinator Ashley Joyce, have created a story titled ’One good deed leads to another’. Ms Joyce said the performance focuses on showing kindness and compassion towards others. “Our students have been extremely dedicated and have been rehearsing dance routines and acting roles twice a week,” Ms Joyce said. As a not for profit association, Wakakirri supports student wellbeing, creativity and inclusion. Schools support students to develop a short performance that explores ideas, values or social themes, which is then shared on stage at a Wakakirri event. The St Peter Apostle students will perform at the Clocktower Theatre, Moonee Ponds, on 5 August.
Crime concern dip By Laura Michell A six-month security patrol trial in Truganina helped to lower concerns about local crime, a survey has found. Wyndham council ran the security patrol trial from November last year to April this year and engaged Metropolis Research to survey community perceptions of safety before and after the trial. A report to the 28 July council meeting noted that following the trial, concern about crime in local neighbourhoods decreased by 37 per cent, while concern about violent crime decreased by 10 per cent. Concern about property crime decreased
by five per cent, while concern about becoming a victim of crime elsewhere in Wyndham decreased by 41 per cent, the report noted. A total of 973 incident reports were logged during the trial. Of those, 372 related to incidents that were potentially safety or crime related, such as reports of suspicious vehicles or loitering. Ten such reports involved security personnel being the first responder to an active or potentially active incident, the report to council stated. Neighbourhood alerts and reassurance activities, such as garage doors being left open, accounted for 373 reports. Local amenity, parking and minor safety
observations accounted for 228 reports. The report to council noted that no direct correlation could be drawn between year-to-date crime data and the trial as the crime reporting period did not align with the trial dates. Benim Ward councillor Preet Singh, who pledged to initiate the patrol during his campaign for election to council in October 2024, said the trial had provided important learnings for council’s broader community safety work. “One of the most encouraging outcomes of the trial was the strong sense of community it revealed. A significant majority of respondents said they felt confident they
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could turn to their neighbours for help if needed, highlighting the strong community connections that exist across Truganina,” he said. Cr Susan McIntyre criticised the trial and council’s decision to spend $372,000 on the project. “This was an election commitment supported by a majority of councillors, but election commitments must withstand scrutiny and deliver value for all Wyndham residents,” she said. She said council could have examined the experiences of residents accessing existing security patrols in Sanctuary Lakes and Manor Lakes instead of funding its own trial.
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