Newcastle High School's P&C association says Newcastle council has shown "blatant disregard" for student safety and will "now need to be accountable for any resulting tragedy" after a fruitless eight-year wait for pedestrian crossings around the campus.
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The parents and citizens association's leadership has published an angry media release after years of campaigning for pedestrian crossings in Parkway Avenue and Smith Street.
"Currently students have no safe way of crossing any of the surrounding streets to leave the campus," the media statement says.
"Incredulously, it is an inner-city school on major thoroughfares supporting over 1000 children, including a special education unit, with NO crossings - not one."
Correspondence from City of Newcastle to the P&C shows the council first raised the need for pedestrian crossings in 2016, but a subsequent traffic survey "showed a relatively low number of students crossing Parkway Avenue, which did not support the installation of a marked pedestrian crossing".
The council's Newcastle City Traffic Committee provided in-principle support for a Parkway Avenue crossing in September 2019, but the project has not materialised despite repeated requests from the P&C.
A council officer wrote in July last year that no crossings had been formally approved and no plans were in place.
"The identified crossing locations will require complex infrastructure solutions that still requires extensive investigation, planning and design prior to being progressed for formal approval," the council officer's letter said.
"Matters still to be resolved include the heritage considerations for Parkway Avenue, drainage requirements, tree protections and engagement with the adjacent residents."
Eight months later, the P&C says it has "lost faith in the local government process to provide basic safety for their young people".
"We are in absolute disbelief that Newcastle City Council does not place a priority on the safety of our young people accessing their school each day," P&C president Karen White said.
"The real risk of a serious accident is a major concern for parents."
City of Newcastle has applied to the federal government's Blackspot program for funding to improve "pedestrian connectivity" at the Smith and National Park street roundabouts in Parkway Avenue.
It expects an outcome to the funding request in the middle of the year.
"City of Newcastle has been engaging with Newcastle High School and its P&C for many years and have provided extensive information to explain the process and prioritisation of this type of infrastructure," a council spokesperson said.
"CN has repeatedly offered to meet with the P&C to discuss this project further, however, they have refused to meet with council officers.
"Their most recent correspondence was to threaten a media release if we did not commence the project, a threat they have now delivered on.
"Fortunately, other school P&Cs have chosen to take a more collaborative approach to working with CN."
The P&C conducted a survey last year which found all 156 respondents were concerned about the delay in installing pedestrian crossings.
Ninety parents wrote written responses which described the situation as "appalling", "dangerous", "unacceptable" and a "tragedy in the making".
"I often drop and pick up my children from high school simply because I have seen so many near misses of kids being run over. It keeps me awake," one parent wrote.
P&C vice-president Rebecca West said the many children crossing Smith Street after school were likely at even greater risk than those crossing Parkway Avenue.
The P&C says the council has used the school's impending redevelopment as an excuse for not installing pedestrian crossings.
"Apparently safety considerations are of low priority in the grander scheme," Ms West said.
"How can larger-scale projects come before immediate child safety concerns? It's disgraceful."
The P&C said in the media statement that it wanted a "simple pedestrian crossing" with line markings and signage but the council had "chosen to complicate the design, making it more expensive and consequently taking years longer than necessary".
The council spokesperson said City of Newcastle was "planning for improved pedestrian connectivity at the Newcastle High School campus and is intending to construct new pedestrian infrastructure following a council resolution last year".
"However, this work could not be progressed until the state significant plans for the redevelopment of the school campus received approval from the NSW government, which only occurred in January.
"Logically, any changes to pedestrian infrastructure need to be aligned with the entrances, exits and movement plans of the redeveloped campus."
The council said existing speed humps in Smith and National Park streets and the wide median strip in Parkway Avenue aided pedestrian safety.
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
