LOCAL NEWS
#1 FOR SPORT
EXTRA TIME
SEE PAGE FIVE
pages 71-80
PULL-OUT MAGAZINE INSIDE DE
POLICE HUNT FOR A KILLER
SOCCER, SWIMMING & MORE
PANTHERS TACKLE ARCH RIVALS
APRIL 26 2013 ISSUE 1100
PROUDLY INDEPENDENT CIRCULATION: 58,865
THE HEARTBEAT OF PENRITH
WATER WORRY Residents in a South Penrith street are fed up with a sewage drama that is threatening their health and wellbeing. Each time it rains, man holes and other points of access to the system in the street burst open, spewing sewage into the street, onto footpaths and across lawns. “Tampons, condoms and human waste, including faeces, come out onto our lawns, run down the footpaths and onto the street,” said one local resident.
PAGE 7
BRYAN’S GIRL Members of the Sydney Alliance at Penrith Railway Station this week. Inset: Shadow Transport Minister, Penny Sharpe hands out flyers relating to station safety.
Safety in question
Glenmore Park local sings with a superstar PAGE 12
Staffing not good enough, says concerned group
T
KATHERINE TWEED
he safety of commuters at Penrith Railway Station after dark is in question according to an amalgamation of community groups, churches, schools and trade unions, who are banding together to demand increased security and safety measures. Sydney Alliance member and ex-transit offic er, Adrian Catt, is concerned about safety on trains and on our local platforms after witnessing a number of incidents himself. “One day here at Penrith I saw a lady chasing youths who had stolen her phone and obviously
the staff wanted to help but they don’t have authority to do anything and have to step back. I am very concerned about the safety, it is deteriorating,” he said. Sydney Alliance claims that Penrith Station is one of nine interchange train stations that doesn’t meet required station staffin g standards, contributing to unsafe situations for commuters. “The Station Staffi ng Standard is a minimum staffi ng standard for interchange train stations, where customers can be confident that the station will have two customer service staff and two members of the police transit command at the station until the last train,” said Sydney Alliance Coalition Director Amanda Tattersall.
Transport for NSW said that two Railcorp staff members are employed between 10pm and 6am at Penrith Station. “There are also cleaning staff rostered on at various times,” a spokesperson said. Shadow Minister for Transport, Penny Sharpe said that people are still feeling unsafe, especially at night, and that safety is a serious issue. “A lot of people that I talk to, particularly women, talk to me about not feeling safe travelling at night and that’s a huge issue,” she said. A Penrith Police spokesperson said they do not consider the station area unsafe, but do actively patrol it throughout the day and night.
ALL SMILES New oral health facility opens at Nepean PAGE 17
WW1446