COCKBURN residents fear someone will be killed by no-gooders throwing heavy slabs and rocks from the rail bridge over Beeliar Drive.

Local safety group Voice of Cockburn Association says children as young as seven and eight are clambering onto the rail bridge and dropping large debris onto passing cars. Adults are also taking part in the dangerous activity.

VOCA president Marcus Burnett says the incidents are so regular and the near-misses mounting up, that it’s deterring people from driving under the bridge. 

“There’s been a number of objects thrown from there, ranging from stones from the ballast used on the track, to paving slabs, push bikes, traffic cones, which have damaged vehicles quite heavily,” Mr Burnett said.

• VOCA president Marcus Burnett with Cockburn councillor Phil Eva. Photo by Katherine Kraayvanger

Slab

“The most severe incident was last September where a slab went through a back window and nearly maimed a four-year-old child. 

He said drunk or high adults were hanging off the bridge, putting both themselves and the public in danger.

“[Residents] end up going around the back through the industrial area because they are just so fearful that something will happen when they drive underneath there… it’s impairing people to be able to go and get things that are a necessity, and this is the impact it’s having on the community.” 

Mr Burnett says they’ve been liaising with rail company Arc, but it’s unclear who owns the easement the hoons use to climb up. 

“We’ve engaged with Arc, but everything is about money as it always is,” Mr Burnett said. 

“We’ve proposed to them, given that they have a gantry on each side of that bridge which is away from the tracks, some barrier system that’s curved so it stopped people from trying to climb. 

“The last conversation I had was that they need to have a meeting with other stakeholders before they could even begin the discussion, because they said they need a feasibility study about what can work there, the cost involved, who is going to maintain it once it’s there.”

VOCA also reached out to Cockburn MLA David Scaife, but he indicated a limited ability to intervene because the rail infrastructure had been privatised. 

Cameras have been installed at the site, but no one seems to know who they belong to, according to Mr Burnett. 

“We don’t know who they belong to, whether those who have cameras are working with police or other authorities…we’ve got the dates and times, but we can’t find out if they’ve got video footage because we don’t know who they belong to and whether they’re actually active. 

Cockburn councillor Phil Eva says it’s “just a matter of time” before trespassers or drivers “get seriously hurt”. 

“The real concern is that someone will be killed… the residents live in fear every time they drive up and down that road, that something’s going to happen,” Cr Eva said. 

“The other concern is that it’s a busy railway… a lot of dangerous chemicals are taken down to Kwinana so God knows what could happen if there was a train collision there. 

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER