By JESSE GRAHAM
WOORI Yallock Primary School has vowed to never give up on its fight for flashing speed signs around the school zone, despite VicRoads knocking back the proposal.
In June, the Mail reported that Woori Yallock Primary School was campaigning for flashing 40 kilometre per hour speed signs, using any means possible to slow drivers in the meantime.
At the time, the school ran a program with the Yarra Ranges Council that involved placing life-like cut-outs of students holding signs reading “Please slow down” on the side of Healesville-Kooweerup Road, and was lobbying VicRoads with Eildon MP Cindy McLeish to get electronic signs.
However, VicRoads’ Metro South East Regional Director Aidan McGann said that state-wide funding guidelines required 20,000 vehicles to use the road per day to be eligible for the signs.
According to VicRoads, about 2500 vehicles use Healesville-Kooweerup Road, meaning the school will not be seeing the signs installed any time soon.
But principal Danny Hyndman and assistant principal Brendan Fitzpatrick remain resolute on their goal, and have teamed up with Ms McLeish to petition Minister for Roads, Luke Donnellan, for change.
“We’re not going to give up until we have those electric signs installed,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
“We’re not going to wait until there’s an accident where they’re needed.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said that “everyone” in the wider school community had jumped on board with the proposal, and estimated that “hundreds” of people had signed the petitions so far.
Ms McLeish said the petitions, which are still available to sign, will eventually be gathered and tabled in parliament.
She said that although the school did not have the heavy traffic flow to make it a funding priority, other factors should be considered.
“I think, while they might have the state-wide guidelines in place, I think there are certain different conditions in different communities that need to be taken into account,” Ms McLeish said.
“There’s a lot of heavy vehicle traffic here, but there’s also a lot of fog, and the weather conditions make it such that it’s really at times just not safe.
“I know that different people have said it’s not just people coming from Woori to Healesville, but going beyond, going to Pakenham, Berwick, Phillip Island – it is a thoroughfare, it is an arterial road and that needs to be taken into consideration.”
In a written response, Mr McGann said VicRoads understood the school’s “concern around speeding traffic which includes trucks and motorcyclists”.
He said VicRoads would increase the size of the existing 40km/h speed signs around the school in the coming month, and that the Yarra Ranges Highway Patrol had agreed to regularly enforce the speed zone around the school.
A spokesperson for Mr Donnellan said the minister was also aware of the situation and backed VicRoads’ decision to not qualify the school for the signs.
The spokesperson said that signs could be funded outside of the 20,000 per-day traffic guideline if risks existed such as a high number of heavy vehicles, sight issues and crash history, but that any new funding would have to be considered “on a state wide level”.
But until electronic signs are installed at Woori Yallock Primary School, Mr Fitzpatrick said the community would continue to hold its ground on the issue.
