Dumbleyung still angry at cop shop shutdown

by Daniel Spencer

April 29, 2008

DUMBLEYUNG residents remain frustrated at the lack of police presence in their town, following the closure of the local station last July.

Residents from the Great Southern farming community have expressed their anger at the lack of security measures currently in place, which makes locals feel less protected.

The Wagin police have been in charge of law enforcement in Dumbleyung since the local station was one of six country stations closed last year. Wagin is 38 kilometres from Dumbleyung.

“[The Wagin police] have been late to almost every incident since the [local] police station closed,” Dumbleyung mayor Gordon Davies said.

Dumbleyung council CEO Henry Van der Ende said the shutdown meant the town simply did not have the access it used to. This had lowered community confidence, he said.

“It has caused an increase in anti-social behaviour,” Mr Van der Ende continued. “There’s also been an impact on traffic.

“As people know there’s nobody in town...a greater incidence of speeding [has resulted].”

Local farmer Jeff Patterson called the wider impact on the town “very negative” and flagged a drop in tree-changers considering the town as a retirement destination.

“It’s another service out of town and makes us think ‘are we gonna be safe?’” he said. “It is also not giving people from Perth an opportunity to settle here because of the lack of services.”

However, Wagin’s top cop Mark Faulkard believes his station can deliver a better service than the previous Dumbleyung station.

“I am certain we can deliver a better policing package...,” he said. “We can deliver more efficiently.”

 “We provide better service delivery, instead of having two man stations.”

He conceded looking after Dumbelyung’s policing had “had an impact” on his resources, and that his station “would like to be doing more.” But he stopped short of saying Dumbleyung locals were not satisfied with the police commuting from Wagin.

“I personally haven’t felt it,” he said. “More senior officers haven’t felt that.”

Dumbleyung tavern manager Lisa Harffey agreed, saying the absence of local cops hadn’t made much difference, and the service given by Wagin police has been “excellent.”

“We have had more service from the people at Wagin,” she said. “The local ones never came anyway...

“We never got much response.”

A review of the Dumbleyung closure will occur in July. However, shire councillor and school board member Tom Pearce does not hold much hope for the station’s reopening.

“They’ve pretty much made up their mind,” he said. “I doubt very much whether they will open it again.”

Mr Van der Ende has said the Council will be doing “all in their power” to convince the review panel to reopen the police station.

“We have a desire for the police station to come back,” he said. “We understand there are problems [with police shortages], but we shouldn’t be the ones to bear the brunt of it.”