Kooyong Street was to extend from Kirwood Street, north to Dumesny Street. The area bordered by Kooyong Street and the west boundary of the school was to become a bus hub, carpark and a green space. A sensible proposal for a school located in the centre of a large residential development.
Council after council have listened to the loudest voices in the community and their hearing has been very selective.
To implement such a proposal at the west primary school, someone has to take ownership and manage the project.
HRCC has the resources to negotiate with state and federal governments, gain funding and has the boots on the ground to ensure all stakeholders are consulted.
This will only take place if council makes the project a priority. Something l have not yet been able to achieve.
When the current council makes a matter a priority, it happens.
Within weeks of being elected the parking meters were gone, along with speed humps in the main street.
Upgrades to the city oval precinct, gone after years of planning involving community consultation, expenditure of ratepayer funds, funding applications and when the building was about to begin our elected representatives voted to reject almost $5-million in federal funding and place the project on hold.
Why? Because it was not one of its priorities and they did not hear the positive voices.
With the announcement of $242,000 funding from the State Government through the Transport Accident Commission, TAC, Local Government Grant Program for the installation of pedestrian crossings around Horsham West Primary School, Horsham College and the Wimmera Base Hospital, someone has started to listen.
During the past two years l have written about 100 emails and letters, made many phone calls and participated in countless meetings.
Along the way l have encountered many obstacles. Letters, emails and phone calls never returned or acknowledged, but many hit their mark.
When raising matters directly with council l received many excuses and they had a common theme, e.g, it’s operational, we could not attend because no vehicle was available, we are under staffed, when resources permit, you should have put in a service request.
But the one l took as a badge of honour was when it was suggested l could be given a high-vis vest and a stop sign to solve the problems caused by the lack of crossings around the school.
Vehicles ignoring parking time limits continue to be a major problem, forcing parents to drop-off and pick up children in the streets around the school.
Council rejects this claim even after being provided with photographic evidence pointing out that these breaches are occurring.
The proposed community consultation by council is the opportunity for parents and residents to comment on the proposed crossings and point out to council that parking is a serious problem around the school and a functional drop-off and pick-up zone is essential for the Horsham West Primary School.
If our elected councillors have the public’s words ringing their ears, l am confident these matters will become a priority and be addressed, ensuring our community does not have a ‘Natimuk Road bollard’ experience.
It is a well acknowledged fact that drop-off and pick-up around schools is a local, state and national problem.
l am calling on the council to establish a working party to identify pedestrian, traffic movement and parking priorities around all schools and early learning centres in the municipality.
Establishment of a working party could become a platform for candidates and parties in the upcoming state election and future local elections.
This could encourage Horsham Rural City Council to act.
Jack Flynn
Horsham
Police recruitment
The Nationals and Liberals in government will recruit an extra 3000 police as new crime statistics show disproportionate levels of crime in Victoria’s regions.
Crime in Victoria has reached record levels under the Allan Labor government with regional areas making up three of the top five recorded local government areas to have recorded offences.
Latrobe, Greater Shepparton and Northern Grampians all feature prominently among most crime-ravaged areas of the state.
Latrobe had 17,950.5 offences per 100,000 of its population, with only Melbourne ranking higher among all local government areas in the state.
Greater Shepparton had 14,737 offences per 100,000 people while Northern Grampians closely followed with 14,675.4 per 100,000 people – up a staggering 23.6 per cent from the same time last year.
Time and time again we are seeing regional Victoria rank highly in issues and rank lowly in funding and these latest statistics show the alarming prevalence of crime in these areas.
Meanwhile police stations are closing and manned hours continue to reduce while the government in its typical tone deaf manner pats itself on the back its handling crime in Victoria.
A Liberal-Nationals government will take crime seriously in this state, and along with 3000 extra police, we will bring in tougher bail laws and a host of measures to give a fair share to regional Victoria.
Danny O’Brien
Leader of The Nationals Victoria
The entire June 24, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
The entire June 24, 2026 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!
