Tuesday, 12 May 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18:06): (2509) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and the action that I seek is that the minister allocate funding for a full safety audit of both Romsey Road and High Street where children cross the road to access Woodend Primary School. Recently two children in two separate incidents were hit by cars while crossing Romsey Road to get to school. This is a parent’s worst nightmare. Thankfully, neither incident was fatal, but the children were injured and this was a traumatic series of events for the school community. Kate Kendall, the mayor of Macedon Ranges Shire Council, has met with the school principal and as a result has formally written on behalf of council to the Department of Transport and Planning. The letter calls for urgent treatments to the road and intersection to improve pedestrian safety, and I fully back this call for fast and decisive action to be taken.

Woodend Primary School is located in the heart of Woodend along High Street, which is the main thoroughfare through town and carries a large volume of traffic each day. Romsey Road intersects with High Street and is a key connecting road between the residential housing area to the north of the of the road and Woodend Primary School to the south. Four years ago in Parliament I raised the matter of safety concerns for pedestrians around Woodend Primary School, and at that time the Minister for Education took no action to make safety improvements. School crossing supervisors have reported near misses over the years, and yet nothing has been done. I am furious that it has taken two incidents in which children were hurt before the local Labor member has finally taken an interest. The safety of children walking to the school has been an absolute top priority, and yet the state Labor government has a terrible record when it comes to responding to safety issues at school crossings.

After a serious crash in 2018 at the pedestrian crossing outside Kialla West Primary School, I started advocating for a major safety upgrade of that crossing. Labor dragged their feet for eight years before finally contributing some funds towards an upgrade this year, and only because there was another vehicle collision there earlier this year. But it should not take repeat incidents before the government acts. I understand that the Department of Transport and Planning has implemented better signage on Romsey Road, and I welcome interim measures to heighten safety, but that is clearly not enough. Two children were hurt in two separate incidents within the space of a week. This shows that there is a clear safety issue for the students crossing at Romsey Road. I urge the minister to publicly commit to doing a safety audit and making serious investment into long-term solutions for pedestrian safety around Woodend Primary School.