Letter to the Editor: School site safety concerns

DEAR News Of The Area,

I AM writing as a resident of Abundance Road in Medowie to express my concerns about the school soon to be constructed there.

My first concern is water runoff.

My house was inundated with rain water from the May rain event.

I write now, not knowing whether rain water will again enter our house this weekend.

The school says they are putting in a large water tank to provide some assurance about stormwater. But, assuming that tank is empty, the tank will only handle about the first 50mm of rain.

The rest will end up on surrounding properties compounding an existing issue plaguing the street.

My second concern is traffic and safety.

The area is already busy during school times.

If another school is added then it becomes a serious safety issue.

Numbers only account for so much.

The plan hasn’t factored in human carelessness and error.

Safe spaces for kids to cross roads are poor to nonexistent.

There are only plans for a zebra crossing and nothing else.

Abundance Road simply isn’t built for that type of traffic.

Why the rush?

For the sake of safety give it another six months, find a better site, or even revaluate the merits of the original site given trees are cleared all around it, surely this is worth the time investment?

This school can be a win for the community and for our beloved MP but so far community concerns have largely fallen on deaf ears, drowned out by the hammer and anvil of progress.

A second meeting between the council and community was promised but never held.

Concerns have instead been relegated to the inboxes of already overworked government officials unanswered while residents descend into apathy.

Regards,
Justin M CARPENTER,
Medowie.