Bacchus Marsh primary school’s peak-hour traffic woes may soon be eased, with the Masons Lane recreation reserve car park proposed as a solution.
Cr Tonia Dudzik told Moorabool council’s June 4 meeting the school had requested use of the reserve’s road and car park as an additional drop-off and pick-up point.
While the Masons Lane reserve committee of management, of which Cr Dudzik is chair, did not endorse the idea because of the poor condition of the road it has asked the council to assess the proposal and explore other options.
“There have been a lot of complaints from parents about the traffic, parking and safety around the school,” Cr Dudzik said.
“The motion is for council officers to write a report and provide an assessment of the proposal and also explore other options to alleviate these issues.”
Cr David Edwards told the meeting: “It’s a public, open space. There’s nothing to stop the school from using it for drop-offs now.”
But several councillors asked that council officers look for alternative solutions.
“The report should look at the broader traffic issues around schools, rather than create a pre-emptive issue out of the Masons Lane solution,” Cr Tom Sullivan said.
Cr Pat Toohey was concerned the council would be creating issues for users of the reserve and asked that if the school was given permission to use the car park that it was given times of use to coincide with drop-off and pick-up times “It may end up becoming a school car park, then people wanting to use the recreation reserve won’t have a space,” he said.
“There needs to be an alternative option.”
Cr Toohey pointed out that an upgrade of the reserve, including the car park, was listed as one of the council’s capital works projects.
Cr Allan Comrie said using the car park for drop-offs and pick-ups had merit.
“But, being a school bus driver, I know parents want to go right outside the school for the drop offs,” he said.
Mayor Paul Tatchell said the council needed to expand on the “well-overdue” motion.
“The biggest trouble is that if we turn reserve car parks into school ones, what starts as a one-off then becomes the norm,” he said.
“We need to find a more holistic solution to acknowledge the problem . . . this may be it, or it may be something else.”
A council officers’ report will be considered by the council at an August 6 meeting in Bacchus Marsh.
Bacchus Marsh primary school is the largest primary school in the municipality, with 783 pupils.
