Pete’s a wag
I TOTALLY agree with Pete Clayden’s letter (“Dog of a Beach”, Herald, November 11, 2017).
The change to the beach access at Leighton footbridge is a poor decision by Fremantle Council and unfair to users of the beach who do not have dogs.
This includes surfers, wind surfers, elderly, parents with babies and small children, who now have to walk well south of the footbridge to access a dog-free stretch of beach.
This is particularly galling as the dog beach is so generously long.
The council has made a wrong-headed decision based on a petition received from a dog owner.
No input was sought from anyone else. I tried to change this decision by emailing the councillors before the meeting. However one voice is not enough.
Pete should not accept this as a fait accompli. Decisions are made and can be unmade.
He should exercise his democratic rights and email his message to the councillors: members@fremantle.wa.gov.au
Ann Forma
Harvest Rd, North Fremantle

Castaway
REGARDING your news story (“Marooned”, Herald, November 11, 2017) about a new traffic island on Hampton Road hurting local business.
I don’t think Mr Carter’s reason for having the road island put in is entirely up front.
I live up in Curedale Street off Lefroy and have an issue with the traffic that cuts through Curedale St and exits down onto Hampton Road at the location where the island now is, thus cutting out two sets of traffic lights.
The island has now increased the traffic turning right up Lefroy in the afternoon where there is no filter light and at times it can take several light changes to get through that intersection.
Someone from Main Roads should get down there in the afternoon and observe the problem and do something to stop the traffic taking the short cut through the residential area
David Phillips
Curedale St, Beaconsfield 

Cycling curfew
THERE has been a lot of discussion about cyclists on the road.
It is my opinion that not all cyclists should not be allowed on the road.
There should be a minimum age for a person to ride on the road.
Cyclists should not be on the road till an hour after daylight to an hour before dark, no matter whether they have lights on their bike or not.
Some busy roads, particularly those with trucks or heavy traffic should not allow cyclists at all.
Most road accidents involving a cyclist and a motor vehicle usually happen early morning or late afternoon.
Local councils spend thousands of dollars building excellent bike paths to keep cyclists safe.
It all gets down to common sense.
Frank Granger.
Melville Beach Rd, Applecros

David v Goliath
I FOUND your council “Election roundup” story (Herald, October 28, 2017) interesting, until there was reference to Clive Robartson romping in against Marie Curtis in Melville.
Marie was up against an incumbent [Robartson] who is part of the Aubrey group with access to meet and greet at shopping centres, support from local service groups, and I must particularly reference the Bullcreek Tennis Club, where there was a huge banner that was inclusive of both Robartson and the new Deputy Mayor.
I wonder under whose authority that advertisement was hung on what I consider a part of the Melville council and dare I ask did it contravene any local government act.
The best Marie Curtis could do against such a team was footslog and doorknock as an individual, without support and still receive 35.53 per cent of the vote.
I would suggest Robartson did not romp in, there was a clear message in that 35.53 per cent of the voters wanted change and whoever is next up for election, any opponent that is a credible nomination and with support, remaining members of the Aubrey team will be wiped out.
Bob Christison
Bullcreek
The Ed says: We checked the rule book and there’s nothing wrong with the club flying a banner.

Ban glyphosate
FREMANTLE council’s use of the herbicide glyphosate, commercially traded as Roundup is ill advised.
The concerns raised by two letters to the editor, one from Melville and the other from Fremantle, are valid.
A study published in the October 24 Journal of the American Medical Association reveals a 500 percent increase in the levels of glyphosate on testing of urine samples of people involved in this ‘healthy aging study’ in the period 1993 to 2016.
This study begun in 1972 of a group aged over 50 and have been followed since then.
Glyphosate has been used as a desiccant on non-genetically modified grain since the advent of genetic modification programmes.
The purpose is to enlarge the grain yield. This programme began in 1993.
The harvest is inevitably contaminated with this chemical and enters into our diet intake.
Glyphosate is a known carcinogen. There was evidence in the documents of the company which produces this toxin that it has a significant role in non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Further analysis needs to occur as to the impact of this chemical on the health of the community.
The health authorities in all levels of government need to act now.
Fremantle city council should suspend the use of Roundup and review any level of contamination in its own work-force and anyone else in the community who may have been exposed.
John Troy
Beaconsfield

Human rights
OUR federal government punishes refugees.
We only need to consider Australia’s Regional ‘Processing’ Centre in Nauru, labelled by Amnesty International: Australia’s  ‘Island of Despair’ , or look at what has happened on Manus Island to see how it punishes.
Our government believes it’s morally acceptable to abandon refugees in a country facing environmental destruction, whose government business and humanitarian groups consider to be one of the world’s most corrupt and authoritarian, where journalists can be attacked by police and plain clothed men with slingshots and stun guns: Cambodia.
Do the words in our national anthem ‘for those who’ve come across the seas we’ve boundless plains to share’ have meaning anymore?
Does Australia really deserve its new seat on the UN Human Rights Council?
It’s all very well to campaign internationally for human rights but what credibility can a nation hold when it treats those who flee oppression, civil war, terrorism and persecution so differently from the standards it represents outside its borders?
The federal government’s current policy around refugees can no longer be sustained, it is found morally wanting.
When organisations such as Amnesty International are criticising Australian policy and practices there is something seriously wrong.
We need to have a thorough and open debate in this country around these issues and also how we recognise and treat the First Peoples of our nation.
Sasha Todhunter
Aatavia Avenue, Wannanup

Numbers game
IT is disappointing that Fremantle deputy mayor, Ingrid Waltham, seeks to dismiss genuine concerns about the state of the City of Fremantle’s finances as a mere joke about the number 42.
The reality is that the city’s auditors, Moore Stephens, raised concerns about this very issue when presenting the June 30, 2016 financial statements to the Audit and Risk Management Committee on November 8, 2016. Fremantle Council’s response to this is to commit ratepayers to a $50 million project to knock down and rebuild the existing civic centre in Kings Square.
Martin Lee
Fremantle