Manningham: Seven people hospitalised after The Mall, Bulleen Plaza crashes

A council in Melbourne’s east says its working to improve safety at one of its shopping centres after two shocking incidents which saw pedestrians hit by cars.

A woman has been rushed to hospital following an incident at Macedon Square shopping centre in Lower Templestowe on June 17. Picture: Google Street View.

A council in Melbourne’s east says it is working on a new layout and safety measures at a shopping centre where a pedestrian was hit by a reversing car.

Manningham Council has said it was “saddened” to hear of two similar incidents within 24 hours at two shopping centres, which saw seven people hospitalised.

Four people were injured when a car crashed into pedestrians at Bulleen Plaza about 4.20pm on June 16, while a woman in her 30s was seriously injured in a similar incident at The Mall outside Riddik restaurant in Lower Templestowe on June 17 about 11am.

It led to calls from Riddik’s owner, Michelle, to consider greater safety measures and the installation of bollards.

Michelle claimed the restaurant had raised concerns with the council in the past four years and a request to install bollards outside her restaurant had been refused.

The council’s director of city services, Rachelle Quattrocchi, said it was working on a new design for the Macedon Square shopping centre precinct, which includes The Mall.

Community consultation on two layout options was completed in April, but a final decision is yet to be made.

Ms Quattrocchi said the new design would “allow for greater separation between pedestrians and vehicles”.

She confirmed the council had previously assessed the request from Riddik’s owners to install bollards, but deemed they were not warranted at the time.

“In using a risk based approach, we regularly assess risks around public areas and follow appropriate standards for traffic design around placement of any safety measures including bollards,” Ms Quattrocchi said.

Ms Quattrocchi, said police had told the council there had been “an increase in the number of vehicle incidents happening within our shopping areas this year”.

“Keeping our community safe is always a top priority for council and we regularly review our safety measures,” she said.

Ms Quattrocchi did not say if there were any plans to improve safety at Bulleen Plaza.

Police believe a 72-year-old woman was attempting to park at the plaza on Manningham Rd when she accidentally accelerated and crashed into the shoppers, pushing them through a shop window.

A car drove through a shop in Bulleen Plaza on June 16 and injured a woman and three children. Picture: Supplied

A 34-year-old woman and a seven-year-old child were trapped under the car for a short time before a member of the public came to their rescue.

The woman was taken to The Austin Hospital and the child to The Royal Children’s Hospital, both with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Two other children, aged one and three, were also taken to The Austin with non-life threatening injuries, while the driver was taken to Epworth Hospital for observation.

At The Mall, a woman believed to be in her 30s was also hit by a reversing car outside Riddik restaurant about 11am.

The woman was temporarily trapped underneath the car and suffered serious lower body injuries.

An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said the woman was taken to The Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

A woman was been rushed to hospital following an incident at Macedon Square shopping centre in Lower Templestowe on June 17. Picture: Supplied.

The spokeswoman said another person was also taken to the hospital but didn’t have further details.

The driver of the car, an 80-year-old woman, stopped at the scene and is assisting police with their injuries.

Riddik manager Michelle, who didn’t give her surname, said the restaurant had raised safety concerns with Manningham Council at various times over the past four years.

She said a request to install bollards outside the restaurant was refused, but she urged the council to revisit the issue.

“They said no, and they might want to review that, it’s about time they do something,” she said.

“They should put up bollards … how many times does this need to happen?”

A third crash also took place outside Templestowe Valley Primary School in Lower Templestowe on June 16 at 3.15pm.

An elderly man crashed in from of Templestowe Valley Primary School, Picture: Supplied

An elderly man crashed his car into a tree on Birchwood Ave just before student pick-up time.

A police spokeswoman said the man was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital for observation.

Any witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage from the two shopping centre incidents can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.