Perth Voice Interactive

AMID reports of ripoffs and assaults during internet-facilitated trades, Stirling council wants to set up safer exchange sites under CCTV surveillance.

Stirling deputy mayor Suzanne Migdale got the idea after seeing Victoria Police set up “safer trading zones” outside 24-hour police stations (“Exchange spots stiff the crooks,” Voice, November 9, 2024).

“The reason that this came about is because many people are now transacting on sites like Marketplace, Gumtree, etcetera,” Cr Migdale said at the November 22 council meeting.

“On these sites there are many people who are under the age of 18, or who are… [of] advanced years, I guess, and in many instances there is a feeling of being unsafe when someone comes to your home to make a transaction.”

Just this week a Melbourne man planning to sell his car was stabbed three times by a prospective buyer during a test drive gone awry.  

“And so for the young, the old, and everybody in between, I would like to create safe places for them to transact,” Cr Migdale said.

“So whilst over east it’s out the front of police stations, in our city we have very few of them.”

Instead she proposed they could be in areas covered by Stirling council’s CCTV, envisioning one such safer exchange site in each of Stirling’s seven wards.

“I was going to suggest maybe Bunnings stores, but it might be too soon,” mayor Mark Irwin proposed, referring to controversy over Bunnings secretly using facial recognition CCTV. 

While there was a unanimous vote in favour of getting a report from council staff about optimal sites, a couple of councillors had concerns they might be stepping out of local government remit.

Cr David Lagan asked: “Will the report include a section that explains how the City will be indemnified if it was ultimately seen as a facilitator in the process steps?”

Mr Irwin said “all of those things will be included in the report,” which council staff will prepare after conferring with WA Police, and which councillors are due to vote on by March 2025.

by DAVID BELL