Epping Views Primary School is lobbying for Whittlesea council to do more to bring an end to years of parking and traffic chaos around the school.
The Mansfield Street school has been plagued by parking and traffic problems in recent years, as the road around the school struggles to cope with the volume of cars being driven to the school every morning and afternoon.
The school was built to accommodate about 400 pupils but more than 1400 pupils are presently enrolled.
School council president Joanne Gellel said parents were double parking and driving on the wrong side of the road.
The school has started a petition asking the council to create more parking bays and a drop-off and pick-up zone. It also wants to restrict the ability to do U-turns in Dunolly and Mansfield streets.
The school has the support of Whittlesea’s south-west ward councillors and Thomastown MP Bronwyn Halfpenny but has been unable to secure money for the project.
“The problem is there is a lot of development in the area, a lot of children, a lot of families and a lot of cars,” Ms Gellel said.
“It’s beyond a joke now.
“All we want is to make it safer for the children. It’s a safety issue.”
Councillors Lawrie Cox and Stevan Kozmevski asked a recent council meeting to prepare a road safety, parking and traffic management plan for the school and cost estimates for the works requested by the school.
They also asked to introduce a three-minute parking zone around the school on a trial basis and painting a centre-line in Dunolly and Mansfield streets to prevent U-turns.
The councillors asked that the plan be provided to Ms Halfpenny to allow her to lobby for the state government for money.
Instead, the council voted to prepare parking and traffic management plans for Epping Views Primary School and four others – Mill Park Heights, Laurimar and St Peter’s primary schools and Hazel Glen College – and ask all Whittlesea MPs to seek government funding.
Cr Cox said he feared the move would mean all the schools would miss out on funding.
“The officers have said we only have the capacity to do one [school]. It is trial and error as every school will be different,” he said.
Mayor Ricky Kirkham said prioritising one school would set a “dangerous precedent”.
“This is a systematic issue across every school,” he said.
Ms Halfpenny said she supoprted the school in its campaign to improve traffic and parking and had invited Roads Minister Luke Donnellan to visit the school.
