Safety hazard: A truck passes behind Nationals candidate for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe, Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell and Liberal candidate for Shepparton Cheryl Hammer at the crossing at Kialla West Primary School. The women have pledged $2 million for an underpass should the Victorian Coalition win government.
Photo by
Max Stainkamph
The Coalition has pledged $2 million for an underpass under the Goulburn Valley Hwy at Kialla West Primary School, four years after a collision that seriously injured a student at the school.
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Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell made the commitment alongside Liberal candidate for Shepparton Cheryl Hammer and Nationals candidate Kim O’Keeffe at the school.
September 10 will be four years to the day since the incident where Addison Sharp was seriously injured after a truck failed to stop at the school crossing.
Excited for change: Kialla West Primary School council president Jamie Gilbert with parent Jane Sharp, whose daughter Addison was seriously injured in an accident in 2018.
Photo by
Max Stainkamph
Addison’s mother, Jane Sharp, said “it’s been a long time coming”.
“I felt like nothing was ever going to get done, our family’s been here for quite a long time and I know our cousins have been campaigning for a long time before we got here,” she said.
“It’s always come back to us as ‘no, it’s not our problem’.”
School council president Jamie Gilbert said the funding promise was a huge step in the right direction after four years of “pretty challenging work” from the school council.
Heavy traffic: A truck zooms through the crossing at Kialla West Primary School.
Photo by
Max Stainkamph
“We made a commitment four years ago to really put everything into trying to get an outcome for our families, to get a really safe crossing at school,” Mr Gilbert said.
“We don't want to see a repeat of what happened to the Sharp family or any other community members that are crossing.“
He said there had been a recent in-principle agreement to install rumble strips in the lead-up to the school in both directions, but no committed time-frame or funding.
Funding promised: Jamie Gilbert, Kim O’Keeffe, Wendy Lovell, Cheryl Hammer and Jane Sharp at Kialla West Primary School.
Photo by
Max Stainkamph
“I think the biggest challenge is getting commitment for the money to solve the problem and I think if this came to the money then the other parts can be solved,” he said.
Ms Lovell said she was excited to promise funding for the “desperately needed” underpass should the Coalition win government in November.
“It's not good enough that the government have not done anything to improve the safety at this intersection,” she said.
Ms Hammer said she was “delighted” to be able to announce the funding.
Talking heads: Kim O’Keeffe, Wendy Lovell and Cheryl Hammer chat to the media on Thursday.
Photo by
Max Stainkamph
“It was a no-brainer, to be honest, that I have a look at this crossing and then make some changes,” Ms Hammer said.
Ms O’Keeffe said making families “feel safe” was the crucial reason behind the funding promise, and she said she was “very unhappy” at delays from government.
“We do know there are more and more trucks using this road, and safety is a massive concern for our school community,” she said.
