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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-03 Daily Xml
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KIRTON POINT EMERGENCY SERVICES CENTRE

Mrs PENFOLD (Flinders) (15:32): I rise to put on the record a letter I have today hand-delivered to the parliamentary office of the Minister for Emergency Services asking her to urgently reverse the decision to collocate emergency services with education services at Kirton Point in Port Lincoln. I believe it will endanger the lives of children and will be regretted into the future should it be implemented. My letter states:

As the local member, I earnestly appeal for common sense to prevail and request that your department urgently reconsider the proposal to build the new emergency services centre at Kirton Point. I am gravely concerned that the proposed site will compound problems in an area that is already a congested traffic hazard and that will be made much worse if there is an emergency services facility located there as well. I believe there is a window of opportunity that needs to be seized because the lease on an alternative site located at the current SES site is due for renewal in a matter of weeks and the land that incorporates it has also become available.

As you are aware, it is proposed that the new combined services centre will be located alongside the education hub at Kirton Point and along the route that is the main access to the Marina residential and fishing area. For your information I enclose a map of the city of Port Lincoln to highlight where this is in relation to the rest of the town and the hinterland where I understand approximately 70 per cent of the callouts occur.

While the location of the proposed new site is considered roughly 'central' within the town, this creates problems in emergency situations. MFS, SES and CFS personnel will have to pass at least one school, possibly two, cross a railway line or pass over a bridge to even get to this location. Once assembled they will then have to go to the emergency which, if it isn't close by will mean having to traverse the same set of hurdles in reverse to leave the area. The potential difficulties and delays that will be encountered if an emergency occurs around 8:30 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. on a school day as children, parents and buses are leaving the school, kindergarten or child-care centre could be crucial. Already there have been accidents on the Stevenson Street school crossing.

Another congestion problem that needs to be considered by your department in relation to the proposed site will be compounding traffic problems caused by the Education Department locating Port Lincoln's new child-minding centre and out of school hours care at the Kirton Point education precinct on Stevenson Street. In addition there is a proposal for a new Lutheran School to be located on one exit road and possibly a new Interdenominational School on a major road into town.

The freight railway line and Stevenson Street, the major road to the wharf precinct, dissect Kirton Point from the rest of the city. Stevenson Street passes between the school and kindergarten and the proposed emergency services site. This route is used by the fishing industry to access the wharf from factories on Proper Bay. The area is also extensively used by various fishing industries [going] to and from the Marina.

Nearby roads and the railway, bring approximately 40% of the state's grain into the silos at the wharf ready for export during harvest time. Fertilizer is trucked from the wharf to the Pivot depot nearby with trucks later collecting fertilizer for delivery to farms. The mining industry is investigating a huge expansion in this same area, increasing potential congestion with trains and [more] trucks.

The corner where the proposed emergency services centre is to be located is on the major route, Stevenson Street, for the swelling numbers of families living in the marina area—all accessing the city precinct and using its facilities. Tourism alone is increasing quickly with cruise ships now coming into the marina and soon to the wharf. The new Port Lincoln Hotel is bringing in more and more visitors and Virgin Airlines are looking at bringing in flights from Sydney and Melbourne.

If there was an emergency at the airport or anywhere on the northern side of Port Lincoln, the service vehicles would have to negotiate their way right across the centre of the city which would be a nightmare. We are already experiencing traffic jams on the Lincoln Highway at peak times in the mornings and evenings.

I also bring to your attention potential noise issues that don't appear to have been considered in the selection of the site. Not only will there be sirens going at all hours of the day and night through residential areas unsettling school children, there is the need to clean and maintain equipment. For example, chain saws have to be cleaned and serviced after every use in readiness for the next call out which are quite frequent during winter storms.

Finally there is the communication issue. The emergency services rely on good communication and Kirton Point is recognised as a poor site for an HF radio.

Time expired.

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