Living on the Swan?

Discussion in 'What to buy' started by maverick, 27th Sep, 2018.

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  1. maverick

    maverick Well-Known Member

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    If anyone has any experience living very close to the Swan river, please share! In particular, your experience in terms of:

    1) Was there a bad odour?
    2) Were there a lot of mozzies or flies?
    3) Was flooding ever a problem?
    4) Was rusting cars or metal fittings ever an issue?
     
  2. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

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    This information might help:
    Hydrodynamics of the Swan and Canning rivers - Parks and Wildlife Service
    1) May be due to drought conditions? Check with DPAW
    2) You'll get mozzies and flies near stagnant water. If there's minimal flow in a River, then you will likely have problems at times.
    3) Will depend on zoning - you should be able to find whether you are in a flood prone zone from PlanWA also known as Dept of Planning Lands, and Heritage:
    PlanWA interactive planning map
    4) As the Swan River is salt and fresh water you can expect metal to corrode faster if you live nearby to salt water.
     
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  3. radson

    radson Well-Known Member

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    my dad lives a good 20 m from the swan in north freo ..its just awesome.
     
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  4. marmot

    marmot Well-Known Member

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    We used to have some friends we would regular go and visit in East Freo , great most of the time ,except when the live sheep carriers were in Port getting loaded and the stench was pretty bad in a sea breeze
     
  5. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    @Westminster

    I don't live too near the river but I've been to many family events at Garrat Road bridge park, Burswood and Heirrison Island and also walked and cycled along the river at Maylands after dusk. At certain times of year the mosquitos get quite bad.
     
  6. maverick

    maverick Well-Known Member

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    Ic, how many months of the year would you estimate the problem to be severe?
     
  7. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    Mostly over summer I think and maybe into Autumn too? It may not be so bad this summer as there is a partnership to address the mosquito issues.

    Your Council Working in Partnership with its Neighbours
    Mosquitoes do not recognise local government boundaries. Breeding in one area may affect residents in another.

    The Cities of Bayswater, Belmont and Swan and the Towns of Bassendean and Vic Park are working in partnership to address this problem.
    http://www.belmont.wa.gov.au/Services/EnvHealth/Documents/Mosquito Management_12pgDL.pdf
     
  8. Ross Forrester

    Ross Forrester Well-Known Member

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    It depends on the area. Sometimes the river is like a beach (no mozzies) and sometimes the water is quite slow moving.

    I lived in Dalkeith and no problem but in Mt Lawley (river section) you could not go to the river at night some nights.

    Both were stunning. And you can get mosqito coils.

    No flooding as Perth is on sand. And why would cars be rusty? Never odours other than from my bad cooking.
     
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  9. Lacrim

    Lacrim Well-Known Member

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    Growing a third eye will come in handy.
     
    Last edited: 27th Sep, 2018
  10. maverick

    maverick Well-Known Member

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    Generally speaking, is it the further upstream (east) you go, the worse the mozzie problem becomes?
     
  11. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    Upstream is a long way
     
  12. maverick

    maverick Well-Known Member

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    So is there anywhere in particular you could draw a line?
     
  13. Ross Forrester

    Ross Forrester Well-Known Member

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    Yes - generally. The skinnier the waterway the worse it is.
     
  14. Big Aussie

    Big Aussie Active Member

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    1. Yes, there can be a stench at certain times from rotting seaweed. But it varies greatly depending on the foreshore.
    2. Mozzies breed in stagnant or slow-moving water. So in terms of the river they're going to be a much bigger problem where there are a lot of reeds and pools along the river banks.
    3. No. The biggest problems with flooding in and around Perth are in the very low-lying areas, regardless of proximity to the river.
    4. Rust issues are caused by salt (and water) being carried by wind. So unprotected proximity to the coast can be a problem. You would get much less from the river.
     
  15. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    I live on the Swan north of Reid Hwy.

    1. no odour
    2. less than I thought. Our block is raised up from the swan and our house is about 50m from the banks and I thought the mozzies would be bad but we have more problems with fruit fly from next door rotten fruit and portugese millipedes.
    3. yes we have flooded. A small part of our block is flood plain and we've had a permanent puddle at the front for the past 8 weeks which dried up last week. There was minor flooding on the flood plains surrounding us in August Swan Valley wineries flooded after heavy rain | Community News Group
    We have big time flooded last February when a lot of the Swan Valley flooded and was declared a natural disaster zone Amazing Swan Valley before and after flood photos . My road entrance was 2m under water and took 2.5 weeks to be passable
    4. no. It was the reason why we chose this area vs coastal because of no rust issues

    I live on 10 acres on the banks of the river.