The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, has set his sights on getting a “proper and safe” school crossing installed on Wilkinson Drive, outside the school’s main entrance.
Mr Walsh says right now there is an exposed refuge in the middle of the street and nothing else.
Yet he says hundreds of schoolchildren use that cross at least twice a day and even with 40km/h speed limits it is a disaster looking for an occasion.
“It beggars belief that a multi-campus school can be built in this day and age without some of the most basic essentials – such as a safe way to cross the street each morning and afternoon,” Mr Walsh says.
“I have had parents contact me about a series of near misses, expressing their concern a serious accident is not far away and having inspected the site this week I share their concern,” he says.
“The parents with whom I have spoken say they have been trying to get something, anything, done to protect their children are not going anywhere.”
Twin Rivers school council president Deborah Flett says that without a crossing, many parents are on edge every school day because not everyone can be there as their children head across Wilkinson Drive every day.
She says although it is not a wide street in front of the school, in some ways that increases the risks because even children standing in the refuge can easily lose concentration and step out in front of a car.
“Our school has no crossing, and that’s just wrong. There must be one to protect all our students yet our requests for such a simple addition are stalled with VicRoads and we don’t understand why,” Deborah says.
“We are now appealing to our local MP to see if he can help us.”
Mr Walsh says with the millions of dollars poured into this new, state-of-the-art complex something as simple and as obvious as a school crossing should never had simply fallen through the cracks.
“I will be writing to the Roads Minister and will take this oversight to the floor of the parliament if necessary,” he adds.
“It is hardly a big ask but once again we have a government department showing it has no interest in a regional problem.
“Getting money out of the Andrews Labor government for anything other than propping up botched public works programs that are on the verge of bankrupting our state is a very uphill battle, but we will take up the fight because nothing is more important than our children.”