What price a child’s life? Parents demand urgent action

“Someone’s going to get killed and no one seems to care.”

Wollongong Primary School P&C president Jenny Blunden has decided it's time parents spoke out after many years of seeking Wollongong City Council’s support to improve safety at busy road crossings along Campbell Street in the city.

Last Friday, parents of children attending Wollongong Primary School and Smiths Hill High School invited The Illawarra Flame to their protest rally, and to point out what one parent described as “the perilous risks” his children take every day they walk to and from school.

Jenny said the principals of both Wollongong Public School and Smiths Hill High had done all they could to plead their case, including on-site meetings in 2024 with council traffic engineers.

'No meaningful action'

“Despite meetings and ongoing correspondence with council, the serious concerns of the community is yet to result in meaningful action,” Jenny said. “Each school day, families are left to negotiate unsafe crossings and insufficient pedestrian protections.”

“Wollongong Council has publicly committed to its Safer Routes to School initiative, aimed at improving pedestrian access, crossings, signage and infrastructure around schools.

“How much longer before an inevitable accident happens, and what immediate steps is council taking to protect the children, families, and community members who rely on these streets every day?

“We want to see more than just strategies. Every day, students and children are putting their lives at risk and council seems to have put our problem in the too-hard basket.”

Lawyer Mark Johnston said negotiating busy intersections along Campbell Street at Keira and Church streets was “difficult and dangerous for adults, let alone for kids to negotiate”.

Mark and Jenny said the situation would get worse with massive new housing proposed along Flinders Street, including at the former Bunnings site.

Wollongong Public School is already nearing capacity with 590 children enrolled.

“They’re predicting the school’s numbers will grow to 1000 by the year 2030, which will increase the risks for kids trying to get to school and home safely. In the very near future, the volume of pedestrian traffic making their way to these schools will be huge,” Jenny said.

In 2019, the school raised concerns with council over plans to introduce a cycleway in Smith Street, turning it into a one-way street and in the process putting greater pressure on nearby roads. “Despite our protestations, the cycleway was installed,” the school said.

This coming Friday is Walk Safely to School Day, and Jenny said “there's nothing safe about walking to these two schools as things stand”.

Phil Malcomson, an engineer from Mangerton, said the “perilous journey” his children, Will and Grace, undertake to school each day was “an untenable and unacceptable situation for school children to have to deal with".

“How is a 10-year-old supposed to make a decision getting across a busy thoroughfare? It’s a decision most adults would struggle to make.”

Phil said he’d been told that improving safety measures along Campbell Street was “all dependent on funding”.

Most parents the Flame spoke to said poor driver behaviour near the schools made a bad situation worse.

“It’s extremely dangerous," said Jess Brooks. “I know it’s supposed to be a 40km/hr school speed zone but no one seems to keep to the speed limit.”

Kay West from North Wollongong said drivers didn't seem to be aware, or care, that the zone was a school zone.

Umama Mohsin from Wollongong said children often had a long wait to get across the road during the busy morning peak.

“There’s no crossing, no lollipop person and, as you can see, the cars are travelling so fast. No one is stopping. They don’t stop for the kids. We need a pedestrian crossing.”

Dan Crameri from Wollongong has three children whose preference is to cycle to school.

“The boys want to ride their bikes but when we get to these intersections, motorists keep accelerating the entire way through the roundabouts,” he said. “It’s quite hair-raising. We’ve had close calls a couple of times and I’d hate to see someone get injured because people won’t slow down.”

Michelle Engelsman from West Wollongong said installation of a “makeshift” traffic island at the intersection of Campbell and Keira streets “isn’t good enough".

Michelle said: "There's just no protection. Nothing to protect the kids from the traffic. There’s not a safe choice crossing this road.”

Daniel Gotilla moved to Wollongong from Sydney at the start of this year and was appalled at the lack of safe crossings near local schools.

He was hoping in time his nine-year-old son, Ben, would be able to walk to school on his own.

“As he grows older, we would like to give him some independence, but I can’t see Ben being able to do this alone in the foreseeable future,” Daniel said. “It’s just too risky.”

Egle Jasson said a number of other parents had said they would prefer their older children to walk to school independently rather than be dropped off by car.

“But they’re worried about the hazards involved in crossing these busy roads. Unless something changes it seems only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured.”

Jenny Blunden said: “As National Walk Safely to School Day approaches, many parents are asking: how is walking to school safely possible for students attending Smiths Hill High School and Wollongong Public School.”