In a bid to strengthen and support Council advocacy efforts, Council have launched a survey on their Let’s Talk platform calling for residents to submit their personal experiences with two of Swan Hill’s most dangerous intersections.
At a December Council meeting Swan Hill Rural City Councillors, concerned for resident safety and frustrated with the lack of commitment by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), supported a Notice of Motion presented by Cr Chris Jeffery that furthers it’s advocacy for change at the two notorious sites.
The two intersections, Murlong/McCallum Street and Gray/Campbell Street, have been heavily advocated for in the past and have been of grave community concern for many years, following a spade of collisions and near misses.
Councillor Chris Jeffery, who presented the notice of motion, wanted to highlight the lack of accurate data around near misses in particular.
“Unfortunately, the Department of Transport and Planning are only looking at data where emergency services have been called in – because that is all that is available,” Cr Jeffery said.
“This doesn’t take into account the number of near misses, or incidents resolved without the need for emergency services,”
“We don’t want to have to wait for more serious collisions, or worse still, deaths, to occur before these intersections are improved,” he added.
Mayor Stuart King, said that he wholeheartedly supported the notice of motion and urged the community to get on board to create change.
“The more feedback we can get, the bigger case for change we can build,” Cr King said.
“These are not intersections that Council can fix on our own, as they are State owned arterial roads,”
“It is imperative that we partner with the State government to create outcomes that improve the safety of our community,” he added.
The survey only takes 1-2 minutes to complete and the results will be instrumental in building a solid case for change.
