Peri-Urban Mobile Program Round 2 – Project Noticeboard

Mobile phone reception is extremely poor across Somerville from the north (F'ston Flinders Rd), east off Grant Rd and south to Western Port. Often reception drops back to 3 or 4G from one/two bars of 5G. Maps are available of people affected by poor reception, collated by local resident EC, and we know of ongoing dialogue with Federal Member, Zoe McKenzie. Somerville population in the last census was over 18,000 with 5,000+ families and 7,000+ private dwellings, a large (and growing) industrial area and over 1,600 home-based workers. With falling fixed line installations, Internet banking, Teams/ Zoom and streaming etc are highly problematic.

Mobile phone reception is extremely poor in the south eastern section of Somerville. This extends south of Eramosa Road East and east of Jones Road, down to Westernport Bay. At times reception drops back to 3G from one or two bars of 4G. There is a map available of the people affected by the poor reception, put together by a local resident EC and we have had continuous dialogue with our local Federal Member Zoe McKenzie. The population of Somerville in the last census was 18,522 with 5,279 families and 7,400 private dwellings. There is also a large industrial area and in total 1,638 people working from home. Internet banking is problematic.

Residents in the rapidly growing suburb of Clyde in Holt suffer from poor mobile connectivity. A survey commissioned by my office returned harrowing results, with most respondents rating their coverage between 1-2 out of 10.

Most parts of the suburb are blackspots or have little reception, making constant reliance on the internet for basic communication a necessity. In emergencies, residents are unfortunately required to run to specific spots which have better mobile connectivity to call 000.

The electorate of Holt invites organisations to get in contact and will connect expressions of interest with key community stakeholders who support these projects.

Mobile telecommunication blackspots are a critical issue for Emerald Secondary College and surrounding areas.

Large areas of the College campus have very poor or no coverage.

In emergencies, staff and students have been unable to reliably reach emergency services. The school’s category two fire classification and long history of severe bushfires and flash flooding make the situation serious.

The community has long been calling for more reliable telecommunication infrastructure in Emerald.

It is imperative that students, staff, and families can trust that they will be able to call for help if they need to

Communities across Hasluck, including Ellenbrook, The Vines, Henley Brook, and Caversham in the Swan Valley, along with Parkerville, Hovea, Stoneville, Gooseberry Hill, and Kalamunda in the Perth Hills, face inadequate mobile coverage.
In emergencies like bushfires, reliable communication with emergency services is vital. Residents are vulnerable due to poor connectivity. Timely assistance and critical information during incidents are crucial for public safety and community resilience.
By increasing mobile connectivity and reliability in key suburbs across Hasluck we can bridge the digital divide and provide the services they deserve.

The Wellard and Casuarina areas have had a number of bushfire emergencies over the last few years that have impacted peri-urban properties. Theses area suffer either low inconsistent mobile reception or consistently no mobile reception. This impedes notification to the community of any current bushfire warnings. Kwinana South VBFB station is also located in the affected area of Wellard that has very low inconsistent mobile reception. Over the last year alone, this station has been utilised on three separate occasions as an Incident Control Point for two Third Alarm bushfires and one land search coordinated by WAPOL effected by poor communications.

The locality of Treeby and Jandakot is undergoing rapid expansion. The WA State government decided the Jandakot-Treeby Planning Investigation Area will become an urban area in the future. This could create up to 12,000 new dwellings.

The recent development of new residential estates in the Treeby area created mobile network congestion resulting in reduced connectivity.

We invite interested parties to contact the City of Cockburn for detailed information.

The locality of Parkerville features extensive areas of poor mobile coverage, particularly along the Jane Brook valley. This is a locality classified as being of Extreme Bushfire Risk.

The mobile phone coverage issues are of concern to residents and also adversely affects communications for emergency services and other support agencies during bushfire events.