Terara Public School student pick up point ‘dangerous’, calls to urgently fix

A south coast public school’s student pick up and drop off point has been labelled as “dangerous” by parents and council, who are urging the state government to fix the zone.

Terara Public School's student pick up and drop off point has been labelled as "dangerous" by parents and council.

A south coast public school’s student drop off and pick up point has been blasted by parents who, with their children, have to “zigzag” through to avoid cars, with council urging the state government to fix the “dangerous” area.

Their cause has been picked up by Shoalhaven councillors who have highlighted the “dangerous” zone at Terara Public School located on the busy Millbank Rd.

“It can be very difficult for me to transport my children safely into the school grounds using the parking on the side of the road,” mother of children at the school, Kyra Cooper said.

“It’s very narrow, you are not able to open your door up without it going onto the road where cars are driving past and if you park further over, you are unable to open your side doors because of fences and hedging.”

The danger to children is only exacerbated by speeding cars, with Mrs Cooper explaining how travellers ignore the speed limits next to the school.

“Speeding is also an issue in the area with cars not sticking to the 50km/h speed limit out of school times and also speeding past the 40km/h limit during school times, doing well above that,” she said.

In order to get her children back to her car safely, Mrs Cooper said she needed to “zigzag” in between parked vehicles to avoid the oncoming traffic.

Mother of children at the school, Kyra Cooper said she had to "zigzag" to avoid oncoming traffic.

“I’d suggest people to just go to the spot and look in the afternoon to see the situation,” she said.

Shoalhaven Council unanimously voted in a recent ordinary meeting to have the state government investigate a full safety upgrade for the school.

The vote was spearheaded by deputy mayor Paul Ell and councillor Serena Copley, who both expressed how dangerous the situation was.

“I am pleased that councillors supported our notice of motion to raise the concerns of students, carers and teachers about the unsafe conditions at Terara Public School,” Mr Ell said.

Along with calling on the state government to improve the area, the vote also recommended council staff undertook works on Millbank Rd to scrape back the built up vegetation to the property line to increase clearance for parked cars.

Shoalhaven deputy mayor Paul Ell and councillor Serena Copley spearheaded the council vote to improve safety at the drop off point.

“These urgent works, however, are only a first step and a long-term solution is needed,” Mr Ell said. “Our motion which was carried tonight acknowledges this and throws council’s support behind advocacy efforts.”

Mrs Copley said she wanted improvements made to the area after seeing the dangers first hand.

“It’s obvious families are at risk and that improvements need to be made urgently,” she said.

“The fact that families are needing to stand on the road to get in and out of cars is not an arrangement that can continue.”

Terara Public School declined to comment on the situation.