St John Ambulance officer drives project to paint street numbers around Narrogin

Every second house in Narrogin will have its street number spray painted on the kerb or road to help emergency services find addresses.

Patricia Moulton, a long-standing St John Ambulance officer, said she often struggled to find street numbers when responding to an emergency.

Ms Moulton and Carol Mahoney pitched the project at an Arts Narrogin Pitch N Plate event in 2020 where they secured some funding for the project.

After more than a year fundraising with the Rotary Club of Narrogin, and receiving $5000 from the Shire of Narrogin, they were able to get the project under way.

Ms Moulton said it was crucial emergency services were able to quickly identify street numbers.

“I’m a volunteer ambulance officer and I thought something really needed to be done about some of these numbers on houses because you just can’t see them,” she said.

“They are either non-existent, they’ve fallen off or they’re behind a tree.

“The lighting in Narrogin is pretty poor, especially down the side streets, and some of the street numbers become virtually invisible at night.”

Ms Moulton said although emergency services had GPS in their vehicles, they were not always reliable.

“We also put our side lights on trying to find the right number and it’s not very nice lighting people’s windows up at 3am,” she said

“Sometimes we have people from out of town who volunteer so it’s a help to them as well.”

Darren Piper has been contracted to spray paint the street numbers on the kerb or on the road in front of every second house in the Narrogin CBD.

The street numbering project is free of charge for residents but Ms Moulton said she would encourage people to donate.

“It’s going to be free but if people would like to make a donation that would be great,” she said.

“The cost per house is about $11 and there is quite a bit of work involved."

For details or to donate, call Ms Moulton on 0404 672 728.