‘Entitled’: Suburb at war as school drop-off backstreet route made ‘residents only’ with $272 fines

Homeowners grew so annoyed at cars using their road as a “shortcut” that they barricaded it with wheelie bins. Now the neighbourhood is at war.

A furious war of words and claims of NIMBY-ism have broken out after a popular school run was blocked to ‘residents only’, with motorists now copping $272 fines simply for driving on the road.

Locals in southwest Sydney grew so annoyed at cars using their small street as a “shortcut” that they even resorted to barricading the road with wheelie bins.

Now, in response to complaints about safety concerns and traffic volumes, the council has erected signs restricting right turns onto the road, which is a heavily used route for parents from three schools, to residents of the suburb.

Liverpool City Council last month voted unanimously to restrict nonresident traffic from Lismore Street in Hoxton Park, a 230-metre stretch connecting First Avenue and Pacific Palms Circuit long used as a rat-run between Hoxton Park Road and Kurrajong Road, after the installation of a speed bump last year failed to address the “ongoing concerns”.

Lismore Street is a popular ‘rat run’ to avoid busier roads in Hoxton Park. Picture: Facebook

There are around 30 houses on Lismore Street and Ballina Close, which lie smack-bang between three busy schools, Malek Fahd Islamic School, Good Samaritan Catholic College and Hoxton Park Public School.

Residents of the street, which is also used as a shortcut to the Carnes Hill Marketplace shopping centre and the Michael Clarke Recreation Centre, have complained that during peak hour they “can’t leave their homes” due to congestion.

“There have been a number of crashes on the street, most of which have not been reported to the police, however our consultation corroborates their occurrence,” council’s traffic committee said in a report last month.

“This includes an incident during the consultation period. This has raised immediate safety concerns causing residents to take matters into their own hands by attempting to block the street with rubbish bins.”

Residents lobbied the council to restrict through-traffic from the street. Picture: Google

The report said there had been 5883 average daily vehicle trips recorded on the street, with 85 per cent of drivers travelling at or below 48km/h.

It added council was “awaiting on police information” about crash data.

Council backed the traffic committee’s recommendation, with permanent signs appearing at either end of the street over the weekend declaring no right turn, “Hoxton Park residents and buses excepted”.

But the change has caused a stir in the local community Facebook group, with some residents welcoming the long-awaited change for their “small street” and others accusing them of being “entitled”.

“Watch out! Police patrolling Lismore Street. Just copped two points and $272 fine,” a local member wrote on Sunday.

Another said: “So my husband’s license says ‘Hoxton Park’ and mine says ‘Carnes Hill’, otherwise same address. He can turn right but I can’t? That’s ridiculous.”

NSW Police has been contacted for comment.

A Change.org petition calling on Liverpool City Council to reverse the decision has already attracted nearly 300 signatures as of Monday morning.

Locals report police were out in force over the weekend. Picture: Facebook

“Hoxton Park has three schools within 800 metres of each other, making it very hard to drop off and pick up kids as all the streets and roads in the surrounding areas are congested during this time,” wrote petition organiser Peter Newman.

“Liverpool Council had restricted access to Lismore Street from Pacific Palms Circuit making it more busy and congested on the other roads and if anything more dangerous. We want the sign removed. Favouring two streets and inconveniencing thousands is not the right solution.”

Sharing the petition, one Facebook user called on parents at local schools to sign.

“We are thousands strong and need to be heard,” they said.

“That the council [can] affect our lives without at least having our vote or say so is outrageous. So if you want to congest other streets and [add] 10 to 20 minutes extra onto your drop-off and pick-up times then ignore this petition, but if you want to be heard, please sign.”

Defending the change, one local said it was “a very little street” that grew “very congested during school days”.

The change has sparked heated discussion online. Picture: Facebook

“I’m sure residents who live on that street have had enough if they can’t leave their homes due to the congestion!” she wrote. “Can’t blame them if they want to reduce the amount of vehicles accessing their little street.”

One woman hit back asking: “What about everyone else in Liverpool City Council who lives near a school?”

Another said: “All of us live in ‘very little streets’. We bought our land/houses knowing that. I am confused about why this street should get special treatment.”

She added that she was sceptical of the safety claims.

“The council document has no data about accidents and excuses it by saying ‘not all are reported to police’,” she said.

“Frequent crashes just happening and not being reported? Not likely. From the support shown by some people on this page, it has more to do with people being sick of getting stuck in traffic and needing to leave home earlier. I guess some people are more entitled than others. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.”

But one resident said she had “waited more than 10 years for this”.

“Between 7.45am and 8.45am residents are stuck in school traffic and if we need to leave to start work at 9am we have to leave at 7.30am,” she wrote. “In addition, emergency services are not able to attend to serious illness in our area at that time.”

Some residents had taken to blocking the street with rubbish bins. Picture: Google

One man retorted that “complaining about school traffic when you live near a school is about as dumb as complaining about aircraft noise when you live near an airport”.

“You made the choice to live there,” he wrote.

One woman chimed in writing: “I live near a school too and if I don’t leave by 7am for work I get stuck too. So does this mean I can request the street near the school to only be open to local residents? I chose to live near a school knowing this, just leave for work earlier like the rest of Liverpool?”

Some expressed confusion over whether the street was now closed off entirely to visitors.

“Lismore Street residents can have visitors. It doesn’t say anywhere that you cannot have visitors,” one person argued.

Another hit back: “Yeah, but you cannot turn into the street unless you are a resident of Hoxton Park. Again how is this going to be policed?”

One woman wrote: “What a great use of police resources. Does this mean I can’t visit friends, family, buy off Marketplace if they reside in Lismore Street? Pretty sure this is a public road and not a private road. I too live on a main thoroughfare road, can you stop everyone who doesn’t live in my street using it too?”

Another agreed writing: “Exactly. If this is what they want they can put a boom gate in and charge the residents of Lismore Street strata for this.”

Council says the street was getting nearly 6000 cars a day. Picture: Google

The Facebook page has since disabled comments on the topic due to the heated discussion.

The council will now prepare a transport management plan assessing the impact of the changes, to be submitted to Transport for NSW.

In response to the social media backlash, Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun said in a statement on Monday that “the people who live in this area are OK to go through that area”.

“Also if you are visiting someone, doing school drop off, going to sport or have any business in that area you are fine,” he wrote on Facebook – despite much of the congestion attributed to school runs.

“Lismore Street was only designed for 3000 cars but it’s getting 6000 cars a day. People on that street are stuck in their driveways and can’t get out and there have been physical fights between drivers and residents in the last week. The street also averages one car accident per week which is way too high.”

He urged people to “please avoid using this as a rat run” but said “if you live in the area in the map you are OK”.

“If you have been fined incorrectly please email,” he added.

A Liverpool City Council spokesman said there had been signs in the street warning motorists about the coming changes for the past fortnight.

“Council took the action following many direct complaints from residents as well as many negative social media posts about Lismore Steet’s high traffic volume and a series of car accidents,” he said.

“A council investigation revealed some 41,000 cars a week were using the residential street, way in excess of its rated maximum capacity (14,000 cars a week). Council has also received many messages of thanks from grateful local residents for listening to their concerns and taking action.”

Originally published as ‘Entitled’: Suburb at war as school drop-off backstreet route made ‘residents only’ with $272 fines