By Brendan Rees
At just 10 years of age Joanna is on a mission to save lives.
The Grade 5 student from St Francis de Sales Primary in Lynbrook is leading a petition for a crossing supervisor to be installed at the front of her school.
She submitted a letter to Casey Council saying the zebra crossing on Paterson Drive did not go far enough and that ‘lollipop person’ was needed. “They are unsafe here because the traffic moves very quickly and not always paying attention to children,” she explained in her letter.
“Every day, people go across this road without awareness and sometimes the drivers aren’t aware of pedestrians,” she says.
“Toddlers, children, adults and anyone else could get hit by a car.”
Casey Councillor Damien Rosario presented Joanna’s 26-strong petition to councillors at their 17 July meeting. They voted for council to investigate the feasibility of a school crossing supervisor on the road which is owned by council.
Cr Rosario said he was impressed with Joanna’s initiative who had “really thought about the big picture.”
“It’s great to see so many young people interested in the safety of themselves as well as their fellow students,” he said.
Cr Rosario also told councillors he admired the students for “standing up” and “really starting to look at the world around them.”
Figures from the Australian LiveLighter public health education campaign revealed earlier this year that one in four parents say a lack of safe routes or personal safety were reasons their children did not walk or ride a bike to school.
The campaign’s survey of 2000 adults also showed 64 per cent of Australian children were driven to school most days.
Council will write a letter to Joanna acknowledging her interest in safety and thanking her for reaching out to council.
A report will come back to council as soon as practical.
