Council responses about pedestrian, driver safety “ineffective”

LETTERS: I must commend the initiative by the Yass Valley Council and Yass High School and its students in trying to improve safety awareness of both pedestrians and drivers – (Scoop Report, 27 July).  While this is a Yass Valley Council initiative – I am not so sure that the Council needs to be congratulated quite so vigorously as the students.

I have three recent personal examples where matters have been reported to Council about pedestrian and driver safety all of which were batted away without a convincing or effective response:

1. My wife had a bad fall in Comur Street last year resulting in serious damage (temporary, thank heavens) to her face.  The issue was a trip on a hazard in the street,  Council’s response to this was that the trip hazard was a TELSTRA pit and they had no control.  My question, upon receiving this much less than satisfactory response – and observing some time later that yellow paint had been applied to the trip hazard – but no repair made, was that the Council makes the footpath available to TELSTRA (possibly under some kind of rental or “quid pro quo” arrangement?) and if TELSTRA will not repair the deficiency, then the Council should and send TELSTRA the Bill or withdraw the availability of such facilities until rectified;

2. More recently, after a heavy downfall the access to the car park at the Soldiers’ Club was a lake and I know of one car that had some damage done in carefully fording that lake.  A representative of the Soldier’s Club mentioned, when the issue was raised with them, that the fording point was on Council property and they had reported this problem (blocked drain) on a number of occasions, but to no effect.  Water was still backed up some days after the rain event.  I approached Council to report that problem and they agreed to at least look at the blocked drain issue.  I accept that drivers need to be more than usually careful in areas where water is not getting away.

3. I recently visited Wagga and noticed that they have a pedestrian light system there where the traffic lights go red in all four directions and all four directions of pedestrian lights go green for sufficient time for pedestrians (of all ages!) to safely reach the far side well before the red blinking light activates.  I recently raised this issue with a Council employee who batted it away saying it is a matter for the NSW Government (RMS) and there is nothing they can do.  I am not at all convinced or satisfied with this answer.  Surely Council could make a submission to NSW to have the lights at Comur/Meehan either converted to doubling the time for green phase for pedestrians or, better still, implementing the total stopping of vehicle traffic in all directions while pedestrians cross and the stopping of all pedestrian access to the crossing while vehicles are in motion.

Perhaps, as part of their laudable pedestrian and driver awareness project later in the week, the High School students could take signatures seeking to have improvements made to the phasing of those traffic lights?

Wayne Stuart, 

Mont Street Yass