“It will be fabulous to see supervisors on school crossings after years of parents and Council urging for action. I want to thank all the parents who have worked hard on this issue, and Transport Canberra for making it happen,” said Terry Sanders, Executive Officer of Council.

“Student safety is the first priority for parents. This trial of crossing supervisors follows years of concerns for parents about the safety of students on their school crossings,” he said.

“Fears around Lyneham Primary’s school crossing, probably the busiest in Canberra, were raised by parents through their school P&C and then brought to Council. We were able to present a detailed proposal for a trial of crossing supervisors to the Minister for Education two years ago.”

“Leading up to the election last year, Council worked hard to raise the need for safer crossings and we were extremely pleased when ACT Labor committed to this trial program as an election promise,” said Mr Sanders.

“The school crossing supervisor program, along with the election promise of Traffic Management plans for every public school, will give parents more confidence in the safety of school roads and crossings and we hope this will lead to more students walking to school.”

Lyneham Primary’s crossing is located on a very busy road, with shops and other schools nearby. The school has a large number of students, many needing to cross at this one point. Incidents around the crossing have been reported to Council and the school. Since an incident in 2015, the school community has been vocal about the need for the crossing to be supervised. Mia Swainson, a parent instrumental in the process, is available for comment.

Full list of schools involved.

Released December 12, 2017