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Community facilities Education Speeches | October 17, 2019

Lowan Electorate School Crossings

Victorian Parliament - October 17, 2019

Ms KEALY (Lowan) (09:43:15): At a recent mobile office I heard from locals deeply concerned about the dangers posed by insufficient warning signals at school crossings on the Hamilton Highway at both Penshurst Primary School and Tarrington Lutheran School. Local police have stepped up and are actively policing the area to help slow traffic down, but this cannot be done every day. Better warning signals to alert drivers of upcoming school crossings and 'Reduced speed limit’ signs must be installed as a matter of urgency, similar in design to the two recently announced flashing light crossings for Horsham. The lives of our children are too important to ignore this significant safety risk, which can be solved by a relatively small investment by the state government. I urge the Minister for Roads to prioritise funding for this essential road safety upgrade. Southern Grampians Shire Council have recently written to schools in their region to raise the matter of funding for school crossing coordinators. Cuts by the Andrews Labor government including The Nationals’ country roads and bridges program and the highly successful Regional Growth Fund, and now the gutting of Regional Development Victoria, have resulted in enormous financial pressure on our councils. The Andrews Labor government must match the commitment they made in the Northern Grampians shire and fund all school crossing coordinators that support state government schools in this region and protect the safety of our children. After campaigning with the community for many years, it was fantastic to see two upgraded school crossings finally announced for Horsham in McPherson Street near Ss Michael and John’s Primary School and on Natimuk Road near Horsham West Primary School. While it should never take years for such important road safety improvements to occur, both school communities never ever gave up. I sincerely congratulate both school communities, the schools themselves and all the educators and teachers for their tireless efforts to fight for the safety of their students.