School squeeze

By Shaun Inguanzo
ILLEGAL parking, poor vision and cars reversing down streets are examples of the chaos that residents say has become a headache near Springvale’s Minaret College.
Residents along Lewis Street, Springvale, say they feel they are being forgotten by Greater Dandenong council as their residential street turns into a transport hub, with the school continually outgrowing the infrastructure’s capacity at a rapid rate.
The City of Greater Dandenong has now launched an investigation into the parking problems on the streets around the college but residents and Springvale North Ward councillor Alan Gordon say it’s a matter of too little, too late.
Glendale Road resident John Bennett said he was angry the council had taken so long to act, despite what he said was two years of lobbying.
Mr Bennett lives parallel to Lewis Street, and said he had contacted former Springvale North Ward councillor Naim Melhem and current ward councillor Alan Gordon in order to get the problem resolved.
In the wake of the school’s ongoing expansion, Mr Bennett said Lewis Street ‘hasn’t changed, and parking hasn’t changed’ despite an influx of students to the once-tiny public school.
“There are buses and cars everywhere,” he said. “About 10 to 15 buses come in every day.”
Mr Bennett said people who parked along Lewis Street were ignoring road rules with many drivers illegally parking on the street which has double lines, and remaining longer than the permitted 15 minute loading zone period.
He added that during pick-up and drop-off times, cars were parked on both sides of Lewis Street, creating a narrow laneway and blocking vision for drivers turning onto Lewis Street.
In one instance, he said he was forced to drive in reverse to allow an oncoming vehicle to pass down the street, creating traffic headaches when he had to ask another driver behind him to reverse as well.
“I couldn’t see the oncoming car until I got out into the middle of the road because the cars were parked everywhere.”
Mr Bennett said parking needed to be improved as the school grew to accommodate pick-up and drop-off times and allow residents to live without the chaos.
“I see the school getting bigger but unless it has got the amenities to suit the transport coming into the area, I can’t see how (council) can let the school extend.”
Cr Gordon said residents were ‘sick of being the forgotten part of Greater Dandenong’ as parking problems worsened.
He said the lives of school children and residents were put in jeopardy by the inaction.
“(Council) has said it is looking at it but residents feel it can’t keep looking. They want someone to do something.
“They realise it takes time to be done but the school has been there some time and residents feel council is not safety minded around the school area.”
The City of Greater Dandenong’s regulatory services manager, Peter Shelton, said the council was investigating the concerns.
“At present there are very few parking controls in place around that area and council officers are now in the process of investigating what additional restrictions can be introduced to alleviate parking concerns,” he said.
“The local community will be consulted before any new restrictions are introduced.”
Mr Shelton said drivers needed to understand and adhere to the laws including reducing their speed around the school.
“It is imperative that people driving in the vicinity adhere to the speed limits particularly around busy school times.
“Any concerns about vehicles speeding in the vicinity should be immediately reported to the police.”
Minaret College refused to comment in detail on residents’ complaints. A school spokesman said the matter was with the college’s project manager.