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TANYA’S OSCOBER PLEDGE
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OCTOBER 16 2013 www.newcastlepost.com.au
PROUDLY INDEPENDENT PH: 49 610 310
Keep our children safe One-year wait for safety rail next to popular playground Melissah Comber
C
oncerns are held by users of Maitland Park that the lack of a safety rail between the park and the New England Highway could be potentially fatal. The current fence, which is owned and maintained by the Roads and Maritime Services, is constructed out of wire and is only millimetres thick, and has seen two cars crash through in the last two years. Park users have been calling for a stronger divisive fence since February 2012 after a ute barreled through the fence, struck a light post and came to rest on grass just metres from a children’s bike track. The most recent incident took out a section of the fence near the United service station on Louth Park Road in September. Rhonda Daniel frequently visits Maitland Park with her son Thomas, and said she is worried by the number of cars that travel at 80km/h down the highway that have to slam on the brakes when they hit congestion at the train station roundabout. “You do hear screeches, and when you hear the screeches it makes you really nervous. “You don’t want kids playing in the street or the front yard because of passing traffic and you hold hands when you cross roads, so you come to a park where you don’t have to worry, but here you don’t feel safe…it could turn into a catastrophe.” In a response to the Post’s request for information on a potential upgrade for the fence, the Roads and Maritime Services said that one was scheduled but would not take place until late 2014. “As part of the Maitland roundabouts upgrade, Roads and Maritime will replace the existing 130 metre wire fence with a safety barrier starting from the pedestrian footbridge at the Railway Station to improve safety,” the RMS said in a statement. “The safety barrier will be installed as
RSPCA RESPONSE The CEO of RSPCA NSW admits that they are not a ‘perfect organisation’. “We are receptive to constructive criticism,” CEO Steve Coleman told the Post. “But at some point we would like a public confession that we have done some things right.” Last week, the Post reported on the ongoing dispute between Mr Coleman, and the VicePresident of the Society of Companion Animal Rescuers, David Atwell, who claimed ...
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OFFER ACCEPTED
Funds assured for Town Hall revamp Page 5
BRAVE YOUNGSTER Rhonda Daniel, with Thomas, aged 4, along the unsafe fence
part of work to build the eastern overpass at the Railway Station roundabout which is expected to start in late 2014. There are no plans to upgrade the wire fencing before the barrier is installed.” Ms Daniel believes that is not good enough.
“Waiting a year is insane. I wouldn’t think it would be too much money or time and effort to safeguard the kids. “There’s going to be a lot of people using this place in that time and anything can happen.”
Logan fighting hard against cancer Page 8