The full text of the Letter to the Editor of the Armadale Examiner, sent on 27 April 2006, is below.
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In reading the headline article on page 1 of the Examiner published on 27 April 2006, relating to the Selby Street Reserve, and the assertion of the Armadale mayor, that the playground equipment where the child died, was inspected in March 2006 and found to be safe, I wonder whether the person who supposedly performed the inspection, really did attend the site, or whether that person is competent. The reason that I wonder this, is due to the abundance of shattered glass, underneath and around the playground equipment, with the shattered glass being clearly having been present for more than a month or so, and, likely, since the last time that the reserve was mowed, however many months ago, that was done. The shattered glass observed under and around the equipment on 26 April, extended from being under the equipment, and surrounding the equipment, to within a few feet of the fence that runs along the Pelham Street frontage of the reserve. It is known that the shattered glass that is present in much of the reserve, making the reserve dangerous overall, is created by the tractor mower running over bottles that are left in the grass in the reserve, when the grass is left to grow to knee-high to waist-high, between mowings, as the council does, as the council is not particularly interested in the area. Locals are aware of the state of neglect of the reserve and the surrounding area, and complaints in the past, have fallen on deaf ears. With the puffballs and the Patterson's Curse weed growing in the reserve, and the grass on the verge currently being more than a couple of feet high, it is clear that the reserve is still subject to its usual neglect. It is unfortunate that whoever is supposed to have assessed the playground equipment, appears to have not attended the site. Various media representatives have advised me that they have seen the shattered glass present at the site of the playground equipment, so it is questionable that whoever is supposed to have assessed the equipment, if that person really did attend the site, failed to see what everyone else has been able to see. And, as for the council? "Out of sight, out of mind". After all, the council has a culture of not being concerned with public safety.
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