Constituency Question - Dendy Street Pedestrian Crossing

CONSTITUENCY QUESTION

DENDY STREET PEDESTRIAN CROSSING.

Wednesday, 5 May 2021.

Mr NEWBURY (Brighton) (11:45):

My constituency question is to the Minister for Public Transport, and I ask: can the Minister release all advice on the safety of the Dendy Street pedestrian rail crossing in Brighton?

The Dendy Street pedestrian rail crossing at the New Street roundabout in Brighton lacks any safety features, yet it is a major crossing that services two primary schools, St Joan of Arc and Brighton Beach primary schools.

St Joan of Arc principal Tony McMahon recently reported that he had received at least 10 reports of children almost being hit at the crossing and said:

“The fact that there hasn’t been a terrible accident is purely through luck.”

The Department recently hired crossing counters, who have advised me personally that hundreds of residents are using the crossing each day and are often groups of young children.

We also know the Department has commissioned a secret assessment of the safety of the crossing, which I am advised has found the crossing is not compliant and is dangerously unsafe.

Labor needs to act now before the luck runs out for crossing users in Brighton.