Independent Division 7 candidate Anna Middleton commits to drain fix outside Whitfield State School

A Cairns school community is demanding a decades-long problem be fixed immediately due to the unacceptable, daily risk of schoolchildren being killed by passing cars.

A narrow strip of grass is all the safe walking space school students have while they work their way around a fenced drain on McManus St, trying to get to school as traffic passes just metres away. Picture: Brendan Radke

A Cairns school community is demanding a decades-long problem is fixed immediately due to the unacceptable, daily risk of schoolchildren being killed by passing cars.

A deep, grassy drain that splits the McManus St perimeter and of Whitfield State School and a parking area has frustrated parents and staff due to its perceived ugly look and safety risk to students.

A pool-style fence erected around the drain only added to headaches, according to Eve Elliott-Smith, the president of the school’s parents and citizens association.

Whitfield State School P&C president Eve Elliott-Smith, Whitfield State School foundation principal Tony Constance and Division 7 candidate Anna Middleton are concerned about the safety of schoolchildren as they walk across McManus Street. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” Ms Elliott-Smith said.

“I don’t want to wait for someone to be hurt. It needs to be rectified.”

Ms Elliott-Smith said the drain and fence forced students to enter and exit vehicles in the kiss-and-drop area on the road side.

The drain separates the school’s kiss-and-drop area from the school. Picture: Brendan Radke

She also said children crossing the road from the nearby Engineers Park often ran up against the fence and needed to walk along the road until they could reach the safety of a pedestrian crossing, and that a student had been struck by a car’s side mirror in that area before.

“The facade of our school is a grassy hole with a fence around it,” she said.

“It’s been a problem for decades, pushed by multiple principals.”

Independent Division 7 candidate Anna Middleton said she would advocate for a safer solution. Picture: Brendan Radke

Tony Constance, the school’s founding principal, said he approached multiple councillors and state politicians to have the problem solved during his 25-year tenure, to no avail.

“We’ve gone through continuous processes over the years trying to get road safety issues addressed. The big one has always been the McManus St drain. I can see someone getting seriously injured,” Mr Constance said.

“The drain needs to be lined and covered.

“They could have fixed that drain in the 90s for $250,000.

“The drain also floods over into the school grounds. Some of the seepage has caused infrastructure issues. A building had to be moved because its supports had rusted and decayed.”

Independent Division 7 candidate Anna Middleton said she would advocate for the issue to be fixed if she was elected.

“I’m not joking, someone is going to die,” Ms Middleton said.

“It’s been an ongoing problem.

“It would need some will, but it would not be that hard to turn that area into a safe and nice street frontage for that school.”

Division 7 councillor Max O’Halloran said the council’s assessment was the drain needed to remain open to ensure large volumes of water were carried away from the school during heavy weather.

“The problem they’ve got, like every school in Cairns, is they’ve got no parking. They think if you fill in that drain and put a pipe there it will fix the problem. The council’s concern is the volume of water coming off the hill … which could flood the whole place if the drain is blocked,” Mr O’Halloran said.

“It’s brought up every year.”

Other Division 7 candidate commitments

Ian Moller-Nielsen, Team Eden’s Division 7 candidate, said he would be a highly engaged and visible councillor if he was elected.

“(My commitments) are growing the Botanic Garden Precinct and revegetation of the Green Arrow headland, improve communications with businesses and residents, support the suburban safety program, deliver missing footpath connections and regular community engagement and a commitment to transparency,” Mr Moller-Nielsen said.

Team Eden candidate Ian Moller-Nielsen said he would be a visible councillor, if elected. Picture: Anna Rogers

Unity Team’s Division 7 candidate Matthew Calanna said he would be focused on ensuring the division gets its fair share of funding in the 2024-25 Cairns Regional Council budget. Picture: Brendan Radke

Matthew Calanna, the Unity Team’s Division 7 candidate, said he would take a pragmatic approach to a councillor position as the first challenge the new council would encounter was the 2024-25 budget, due to be finalised in June.

“I’ll be ensuring the division gets an appropriate amount of funding for footpaths, lighting channel and kerb improvements,” Mr Calanna said.

“We need to focus on the basics … get in there and see what we’re dealing with.

“It might not be sexy, but the steady as she goes approach is the one I like to take.”

Renee Lees, Community First’s Division 7 candidate, said she would advocate for affordable housing, better bus networks, drainage fixes in Whitfield and Manunda and better connectivity within the division’s suburbs.

She also said she would advocate for the enhancement of retail precincts, park upgrades and the need for youth recreational and vocational programs.

“I vow to hold monthly Division 7 community meetings and a digital newsletter to genuinely listen and keep you informed, serve as your councillor full-time and take home no more than an average wage, putting the rest back into our community and resident engagement,” Ms Lees said.

Originally published as Independent Division 7 candidate Anna Middleton commits to drain fix outside Whitfield State School