By BRIDGET SCOTT
IT is only a matter of time before a child gets run over at Lynbrook Primary School, according to the head of the school council.
Lynbrook Primary School Council president Christopher Morgan said that depsite the population of students growing by hundreds, there has been no change to parking facilities outside the school.
“When the school was built, it had an intake of around 140 students,” he said.
“There has been no further expanding to the infrastructure, despite an intake now of around 900.”
Mr Morgan, who is also the secretary of the Lynbrook Residents Association, said despite consultation with the City of Casey Council and the Department of Education, no action had been taken.
At a council meeting earlier this week, Councillor Wayne Smith raised this issue, and asked that Mr Morgan be permitted to present to council about the traffic concerns at the school.
Cr Smith agreed it was a concern.
“It’s been an issue ever since the school opened,” he said.
“The main reasons are lack of off-street parking, limited on-street parking and the narrow streets of the estate.”
Mr Morgan said there was only one access point to the school which contained a two minute drop off zone that is ‘misused’.
He said there was a lot of ‘discontent’ and ‘pressure’ building up and mentioned it often caused issues between parents and bus drivers in the morning and afternoon.
“There have been a few situations where it is car versus car, or car versus bus,” he said.
“Everyone is convinced that it is only a matter of time before a child is run over.”
Mr Morgan, who had been on the school council for just over a year, said the issue had been long existent.
Adding to the frustration, he said nobody appeared to be taking ‘ownership’ of the problem.
“The Department of Education have come down and said that the department doesn’t make money available for this,” he said.
“The school is stuck in the middle as we don’t have authority in terms of making changes to property outside of the school.”
City of Casey transport manager Paul Hamilton said: “In these circumstances, council managed various parking demands around the schools through a combination of targeted parking controls and supported enforcement”.
He also said that “council was working with Lynbrook Primary School, Lynbrook Residents Association and the Department of Education to manage parking issues in the school area”.
School principal Russell Gascoigne said the issue had grown to a level where “all stakeholders must take some responsibility”, and he hoped a solution could be reached.
“The two parties are working together with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to determine if there can be infrastructure changes, that may alleviate the problem along with changes to driving practice,” he said.
Mr Morgan said the issue had caused growing concern and the school council was looking for a resolution.
“If I can see the train wreck coming, surely I can take steps to prevent it,” he said.
