Member for Orange, Phil Donato and concerned Canowindra parents have lashed out at the NSW Government following a parliamentary debate on the need for a supervised zebra crossing last week.
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Last Thursday, Mr Donato moved that the government immediately install a supervised zebra crossing on Tilga Street between Canowindra Public School and St Edward's Primary School, as well as note 13 years of reported inaction on the matter.
However, Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke, then moved an amendment to the motion, noting "the government's commitment to the road safety of students across the state" and congratulating the government "on the delivery of its commitment of at least one set of flashing lights in every New South Wales school zone and the rollout of 300 additional school crossing supervisors over the next four years".
The amended motion, which passed 45-42, also noted "the government's commitment to finding the right safety solution for each school setting and its continued investment in safety infrastructure and road safety education".
Mr Donato said Ms Cooke's amendment, which removed all references to Canowindra, was an "absolute disgrace".
"She basically told the kids of Canowindra "you don't count" and I'm not going to sit by idly and let that go unnoticed," he said.
"It's unacceptable to have petty politics played in this issue."
Mr Donato said the safety of school children and community members should be of "paramount importance".
"We've raised the issue ad nauseam with the government, they can't say they don't know about it," he said.
"We don't want to see a fatality or something tragic happen before the government decides to do something, let's be proactive, not reactive... It's a potential catastrophe waiting to happen."
St Edward's P&F President, Mandy Townsend said she believed Ms Cooke's decision to amend the motion was to "get political brownie points with her party".
"There are children that use this crossing that actually live in her electorate, so she's not [only] discarding the safety of children in Canowindra, she's actually discarding the safety of children of her own electorate," she said.
"It's a matter of time before history repeats itself, there was a child killed here about 45 years ago, it is only a matter of time before this happens again.
"It's pretty simple, we just need our kids to be able to get to and from school safely, we have been asking for over 13 years for something to be done."
In response, Ms Cooke said "the suggestion for a zebra crossing for Canowindra was not supported by Transport for NSW due to concerns it may increase risk to pedestrians."
"Everyone wants children to be able to get to and from school safely," Ms Cooke said in a statement.
"At low volume pedestrian sites like this, motorists may become accustomed to not seeing pedestrians and fail to take care.
"Transport has been working with the schools to tailor a safer solution of motion-activated flashing pedestrian lights.
"These lights are being installed and will be operational from Friday, November 22."
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