Road wrangle

By Shaun Inguanzo
GREATER Dandenong councillors have accused the Education Department of poor planning after it proposed to partially close a street that links Dandenong residents to the Princes Highway.
The department is planning to close part of Herbert Street near its T-intersection with Ann Street in Dandenong to allow students at the new Dandenong High School to cross from the former Dandenong High site to the former Cleeland Secondary site. The ‘superschool’ being planned is a merger between Doveton, Dandenong and Cleeland state secondary schools and will cater for up to 2200 students.
The Education Department does not need a council permit for the school site plans, but must seek its permission to close the road.
But those plans divided councillors at Monday night’s briefing meeting, held behind closed doors. Keysborough South Ward councillor Peter Brown told Star he supported the partial closure because it would protect the large volume of students crossing the road.
He said the Education Department had estimated there would be 8000 student movements between the two sites daily.
But Dandenong North Ward councillor John Kelly and Cleeland Ward councillor Paul Donovan have blasted the plan, saying it will disadvantage residents who rely on Herbert Street being fully open to access the Princes Highway. They accused the Education Department of poor planning and said it had up to two years to develop a plan that would suit both residents and students, but had failed to do so.
Cr Kelly said the road closure was the cheapest option the department could find, and it was now seeking council’s permission to seal the deal.
“The department has had over two years to come up with their grandiose plan, and this is just the cheapest version for them. Basically what they’re saying to residents of that area is ‘stuff you, we don’t care about you’,” he said.
But a fiery Cr Brown said student safety was paramount and there was no reason for councillors not to support what he believed was the best option to link the two sites.
“Here are councillors who have been sympathetically listening to traffic problems at Minaret College and yet who have been privately vocal in their opposition (to this plan) saying people will be disadvantaged if they have to go up one street and not another,” he said.
“What’s an extra minute of a driver’s life compared to the whole life of a student?”
Cr Brown said the item was scheduled for the council’s first December meeting and the report would include a number of options to solve the student-crossing crisis.
“There are a number of options including boom gates, a pedestrian intersection, a bridge from one school to another, and a raised platform and light controlled intersection.”
But Cr Brown said he would fight for the partial road closure.
Cr Donovan said: “The Education Department should have designed the school better.
“They should have had one junior and one senior campus, and it is unfortunate in the way it has been designed.”
Education Department spokeswoman Anna Malbon did not address councillors’ claims of poor planning.
But she said the department would not be responsible for closing the road – it would be a council decision.
“The department cannot and does not close roads. However, the department and the City of Greater Dandenong have been working together for more than 12 months exploring the best options for students and the community in relation to Herbert Street,” she said.