Wednesday, 29 November 2023

 John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (09:49): Today I rise to call on the Boroondara City Council to partially close Reserve Road during school hours. Over the weekend I officially opened Camberwell Green, a new playground for Camberwell Primary School and the wider community. It was only possible due to the $1.7 million investment by the Allan Labor government and the advocacy of the former member for Hawthorn John Kennedy, who I know the community dearly misses. When the idea for this playground was proposed, Boroondara City Council stood stubbornly against it. The council building is next door, and they wanted the car park. Thanks to the commitments of the community and people like Cr Victor Franco, Meg Boyle and the school council, it got done.

But now there is another issue: Camberwell Green lies on the side of Reserve Road, and half the school lies on the other side. It is putting our kids in danger. A few months ago Camberwell Primary School surveyed the community, and the vast majority supported a partial closure. As one parent put it, they have seen cars drive down the wrong side of that street. Last week I launched a petition to Boroondara council that I will table in the new year in support of a partial closure. In less than five days we received almost 500 signatures. I look forward to working with principal Janet Gale, school council members Stuart Lindsay and Kylie Ronalds and the wider community to get this done. Boroondara, you need to close the road.