Public Forum

Thank you, Councillors. As Stopper say, Hawkesbury City Council acknowledges the Darug and Dangar people of the traditional custodians of the land of the Hawkesbury. We pay respect to all elders past, present and emerging, and acknowledge all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as First Peoples of the country. General Manager.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. Members of the public attending the public forum this evening are advised that in the event of an emergency, you'll be asked to proceed in an orderly manner to the nearest exit following the guidance of our warden. I'd also like to advise in accordance with clauses 4.2 and 5.34 of the Code of Meeting Practice, public forums are recorded. In the terms of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, this may involve the recording of personal information provided at the time of the public forum. The provision of any information that is recorded is voluntary. If any person does not wish to be recorded, they should not address or request to address the public forum. The gallery can be seen in the livestream video, and if you do not wish to be recorded in the livestream, please move to the foyer, and we will turn the foyer speakers on for you.

The recordings may be made available to other persons where such access is in accordance with the relevant regulations, and the recordings are stored on Council's record management system and uploaded to Council's website. For the benefit of those persons who will be addressing the public forum tonight, it is expected that you'll refrain from making any insult, allegation or personal reflection against any person present or not at this public forum. This request relates to both your address to Council and any answers given in response to questions from Councillors. Finally, as requested for those people with their mobile phones on them this evening, can you please either turn them off or turn it to silent.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

Thank you, General Manager.

We've got quite a few speakers this evening. I think everybody's been indicated the time they can speak is three minutes, and I'd ask you to stick to that if you can. The first speaker is our member for Hawkesbury. Sorry. Is Mr Robin Preston. Before we do start that, is there any declarations from any of the councillors?

Just in relation to the public forum, Mr Mayor.

Yes.

Thank you. I will have a declaration in relation to item 9.1.2, 9.3.3, and 11.1.3. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor.

Robin, if you'd like to. I think this is the first time we've had our local member at any time ever address Council, so you might like to offer your position as well.

Thank you, Mr Mayor, and good evening, everyone.

Can I start by acknowledging any veterans or serving members who are with us this evening, and I thank you for your service, and I pay my respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy today. And if there are any war widows who are here, I acknowledge you and your families as well. Mr Mayor, I want to also acknowledge the opportunity to speak, and Councillors, thank you for indulging this opportunity. It's only three minutes, so I will be brief, but it's a subject very close to my heart. As the previous Shadow Minister for Veterans, I was privileged to meet with a lot of veterans and their families. And when the Mayor gave me notice that this was coming before Council, I want to commend you, Mr Mayor, for this notice of motion.

I think it's a worthy motion. And we have currently in Hawkesbury LGA, as you know, 79 war widows, and 27 of those are currently excluded from the opportunity for rate concession. And that's because of the Local Government Act, Section 134, which you are all aware of. But for background, I have had the opportunity to talk to many war widows in my time, and some of them that are not included in this concession have said to me, ‘Look, it's just an extra blow to us. The loss of their loved one in passing.’ There are so many things that happen in that time that you just don't think about until you're faced with it. So the concessions that were there when their partner was alive falls away for council rates, and this is something that Hawkesbury Council has an opportunity to change and turn around.

So please take that consideration. We rightly honour the service of our veterans. Is that finished or not? Okay, I've got one minute. All right. We rightly honour the service of our veterans, but we must also recognise the families who stood beside them, the spouses who endured long absences, uncertainty, and the ongoing impacts of military service. War widows carry that legacy forward, often quietly and without recognition. So tonight, please take the time to consider the notice of motion that the Mayor will be speaking on as well, and I thoroughly commend this motion to you. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

The second item we have is 9.1.2. Councillor McMahon, you had a declaration? Yeah,

Thank you, Mr Mayor. I have a less than significant non-pecuniary interest in this item. I reside in Redbank; however, I'm renting and not a homeowner, so therefore I will be staying in the item. Thank you.

Thank you. The speaker for the recommendation is Mr. Mac Cooper. Mr. Cooper is unable to be here this evening. He has given all the councillors documentation earlier today that's available. The next item is 9.3.1. There's only one speaker, Mr. Colin Tindale, Chairman of the McMahon's Park Management Association.

Mr. Cooper, the first buzz is a minute to go.

My name is Colin Tindale. I am chairman of the McMahon's Park Management Association. We are a volunteer association delegated to manage the park on behalf of Hawkesbury City Council. The report presented to you tonight includes a lengthy timeline outlining the process in getting the plan of management to this point. The process actually began earlier than this. I mentioned that we were notified in March 2020 that a plan of management would be required, but that no further improvements could take place until the plan of management process had been completed. At that time, we had allocated our own funds to install an outdoor table tennis table and furniture, but were advised to postpone this work.

An independent contractor appointed to prepare the plan of management resigned his commission in August 2021, and Council was forced to seek another contractor. The process has taken over six years from when we were first notified. The existing fitness equipment was removed in February 2020 and is yet to be replaced. The park has therefore been without a fitness station for six years. In 2024, we were provided with a draft of the plan of management to provide feedback prior to it being sent to Crown Lands. We provided Council with a list of errors in the document and a request for changes. We were given an assurance that the errors would be corrected prior to submission to Crown Lands. On inspection of the document presented for public comment, we discovered that most of the errors were still present.

I therefore made a submission on behalf of the Association highlighting the errors in the document and requesting changes to the master plan. Although some errors and updates have been made, errors regarding the labelling of the garage and sports shed still exist. The picnic shelter shown in the document has been demolished and replaced with new furniture at our expense. We have made two attempts to have the errors corrected, and if correcting these errors will further delay approval of the plan of management, then we have no objection to the errors remaining. The errors can be considered minor and have no impact on the intention of the document. In regards to the master plan, we accept the retention of the additional loop path, noting that any future path will be subject to a detailed design.

The playground at McMarns Park has recently been declared unsafe and now has a site fence around it preventing access. The park is therefore now without a playground and a fitness station. I request that you take this into account when you consider the requested budget amendments for the play space, and hopefully that work can be given priority. For request that Council approve the plan of management as it is, or if the errors can be corrected, post approval or tonight, I'm happy to provide Council with the corrections required.

Thank you. There is two minutes of questions if any Councillor has questions . Councillor Creed. Sorry, actually for staff, not. Thank you, Mr. Tindall.

The next item is 9.3.2, outdoor school care facility at North Richmond. Bradley Thurling, Principal of North Richmond Public School, and there's the second speaker for that as well that I'll call afterwards.

Good evening, Mayor and Councillors, and thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you this evening. I'm speaking today to urge Council to release the Redbank VPA funds to the Department of Education for the construction of an on-site out-of-school hours facility at Richmond North Public School. Our school currently does not have OSH facilities on site, and this is already impacting our community. We are losing enrolments to other local schools that are able to offer this essential service. For many families, access to before and after school care is not optional; it's a deciding factor when choosing a school. An on-site OSH facility would support working families, provide safe and convenient care for children, and meet the needs of our growing North Richmond community.

It would be centrally located within the school, inside the existing security fence, and allow shared use of facilities such as playgrounds, open spaces, the school hall, and it's a practical, efficient, and community-based solution. I acknowledge that the Council business papers recommend that up to $1 million be released to the New South Wales Department of Education for this project. This is a welcome step and demonstrates recognition of the importance of an OOSH facility for our community. However, it's critical that the project is fully funded, providing only partial funding risks delaying or preventing the project altogether, ensuring that the full allocation of available funds will allow the facility to be delivered in a timely way and built to a standard that is fit for purpose, not just for today but for years to come.

I'd now like to focus a little on the financial realities of the project. The suggested figure of $1 million, as referenced in Council business papers, would not be sufficient to deliver the project fully. In fact, if only $1 million is allocated, the project is unlikely to proceed at all. The New South Wales Department of Education has estimated the construction cost at $1.2 million. Importantly, this is only based on the base building cost. Put simply, this is a one-time opportunity to deliver a win for Council, our school, and most importantly, the North Richmond community. At present, it's the only option available to deliver an OOSH facility to the residents of North Richmond in a timely manner.

Releasing enough funds to fully fund the project provides a clear pathway forward. In fact, on page 73 of the business papers, the letter from Redbank outlines a roadmap for the next steps, which I think provides a clear path forward to ensure that the project is fully funded. I respectfully ask for your support and that the project. Sorry, I respectfully ask that you support this project by releasing the Redbank VPA funds so that this essential facility can be delivered to our community and so that our school is no longer disadvantaged by the absence of services that so many families rely on. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Are you happy to answer any questions?

Yes, of course.

Any questions, councillors? I've got one. Have you been involved with the discussions at all between Redbank Council in relation to the facility?

Yes, I've had several conversations with Mark Regent, and I know Redbank are very supportive. I think there's been, obviously, the money's been there for quite some time and there's been a lot of discussion. I know originally they were looking to upgrade the facility that Fun Factory currently uses, the hall next to the community hall. Also in the papers, it kind of has explained that that's not going to be a feasible option. So we've had conversations several times with Council and with Redbank about the option of having it at the school, and I think at this point in time it's probably the only viable option to get the project delivered within the constraints of the 1.8 million that would be available maximum. And as I said, my concern was just that the recommendation of $1 million would probably not be enough based on the costing from the Department of Education. Well,

Thank you. Your speech tonight is also heard by our local members. Oh, good. Thanks, Robin. You're speaking to the right people. Good.

Thank you very much, and I thank Council for their support. Thank you.

The second speaker is Megan Grubbs.

Good evening, Mayor and Councillors. My name is Megan Howford, nee Groves. I am a member of the PNC for Richmond North Public School. Richmond North Public School currently has over 300 students enrolled. I believe we're currently sitting at 318, with further growth in occupancy due to approved residential developments along Terrace Road to come. This continued expansion is expected to place additional pressure on existing school infrastructure and support services that are already lacking for the current community. Given both current and projected demand, a 60-place out-of-school hours service would be insufficient. The PNC Association have voiced and recommended that any new facility be designed to accommodate up to 100 children places per day, ensuring that it can adequately support the needs of the school catchment.

At present, Richmond North Public School is one of the few schools in the area without access to a suitable before and after school care service, including vacation care. A big part of this is also its lacking on-site. Despite experiencing significant growth over the past decade, this has not been matched by infrastructure investment in this area. As a result, many families have faced difficult employment decisions. In some cases, families are reducing to single-income households due to the lack of reliable and accessible care. Equitable access to public education should include access to dependable before and after school care within a family's local catchment. However, limited availability of such services has also led some families to consider alternative schooling options outside the area and within the private school sector in order to secure appropriate before and after school care needs.

Testimony from a current parent, Lauren Champion, her child is now in Year 6, highlights the extent of the issue. Over six years, she has only been able to access two mornings of before school care for her daughter per week, no after-school care at all. She emphasizes that limited access to OSHC services means families are unable to remain within the workforce, as lack of care services significantly restrict ability to maintain consistent employment, therefore cause financial strain. Furthermore, the existing off-site service currently is widely regarded as inadequate, with concerns relating to the transportation of children, safety, limited availability, and overcrowded substandard facilities.

The PNC of Richmond North. Which is to formally express our appreciation to Redbank for its continued support and commitment to fostering positive long-term outcomes for students and families within the school community. Their contribution towards the development of this facility is of significant importance, as it alleviates the need for the PNC to pursue fundraising initiatives that would just be well beyond our financial capacity to raise, yet something families are beyond needing. To be clear, we support the funds being transferred to the Department of Education and the facility being built in full on school grounds for families.

Thank you. Any questions, councillors?

Thank you, Megan.

The next item is 9.3.3. Deputy Mayor, you had a— Yeah,

Thank you, Mr Mayor. I have both a pecuniary interest and a significant non-pecuniary interest in this item. I have past connections to individuals who may be involved with the DA. I'll be leaving the room.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

There's a speaker against the recommendation. Angela Bichler, is it?

Good evening, Mayor, councillors, staff and the public. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Angela Bichler, resident of Yeomans Road. The development proposed is directly in front of my property. I'm speaking in objection to this DA 60/26 at 291 Bells Line of Road, North Richmond. This is a 100-place childcare centre and two 24-hour, perhaps maybe one 24-hour drive-through fast food outlets in a rural zone. We , the community is not against development, but this is the wrong development in the wrong location. I've got a few points. I'll be quite quick because I could go on forever about the issues with the submission. But number one, the zoning and rural character.

So the site is zoned RU2 rural landscape. This zoning is meant to protect rural character and prevent urban-style development. A 24-hour commercial fast food hub is clearly inconsistent with that intent. I think it sets dangerous precedent for further commercialisation of this rural corridor, and there's not many rural corridors left around Sydney, as we know. Number two, traffic and safety. This is probably the biggest area of concern for me. The SIDRA modelling is flawed, we believe. It uses incorrect peak hour timing. It doesn't reflect school traffic. It doesn't include childcare traffic properly. It doesn't consider population growth, which, as we know, it's inevitable. The real-world risks in this particular location is that there is a blind corner at Yeomans Road intersection with Bells Line of Road.

We can hardly turn out in the morning as it is. The crest on Bells Line of Road coming down towards Richmond, cars can't see the queue traffic ahead. There is a real high risk of collisions, rear-end collisions. School safety. Colo High School is only 300 metres away. There's no safe pedestrian crossing provided. Locally, I guess the residents already stop at the roadside letterboxes, which have been totally ignored. This adds unpredictable vehicle and pedestrian movements. I think the next biggest one for me is the public interest and local economy effect. This is an out-of-centre commercial development. It undermines existing centres like Kermond Village and all the surrounding Bilpin area with fruit picking, etc.

It fragments the economic activity. It's pulling away from the centres, the large centres that we already have. It's not consistent with good planning principles or public interest, in my opinion. In closing, this proposal fails across planning, traffic safety, infrastructure and environmental protection, which I haven't even touched on. The Council cannot be satisfied this development is suitable. Furthermore, Blue Mountains Council has resisted these fast food chains. Why can't we?

We

Respectfully ask this DA be refused. Thank you.

Any questions? Thank you, Councillor. Councillor

Creed, would you mind grabbing Councillor McMahon?

The next item is 9.5.1, Western City Infrastructure Grants. Peter Michael O'Connor and Steve Payne. Peter, would you like to speak first?

Peter. Peter

Would you just like to wait for a sec to the— Councillors come back in. I'm sure they want to hear your conversation.

Thank you, Councillors.

Mr Mayor, Councillors, thank you for the opportunity tonight to speak in favour of the new development proposal for the pool. I've lived in the Hawkesbury all my life. This is the first time I've been in these chambers. I learnt to swim at Richmond Pool, my kids did. This is needed, not for me, not for my kids, but for kids in the future. The facility and the proposed facility ticks the boxes in my mind. It is no longer acceptable that we've got grown men getting changed in front of school-aged kids in a dated facility. That's the first thing. Parents drive past Richmond Pool to go to Penrith, Parramatta, Windsor, okay, purely because this pool is at end of life. It has nothing to do with the staff, nothing to do with the community, just the pool is at end of life.

The proposed facility also provides for growth, to be able to value-add a gym, creches, and spa sauna. These are things that I see in other facilities that I attend. I attend Parramatta Pool. I attend pools around the country in Wagga and Moree. These are facilities that attract zero to 80 plus years of age. Patrons , okay, they're needed. We don't want kids in cold water. We don't want our elderly in cold water. They need warm showers. This proposal provides that.

I'm a lap swimmer. Lap swimmers don't pay for pools. Single parents buying coffees, keeping their kids entertained, pay for pools. People doing rehab pay for pools. This has a rehab pool, has a functional rehab pool. Having a facility opened all year round pays for pools. Currently, if we get a storm in the Hawkesbury, and that's unlikely, we're out of the pool count and how long it takes between thunderclaps before we can get back in. I really want Council to consider this and push forward on it. Any delay only eats away at what finances are there today. We all see it every day. That's the financial pressure that's under there. What I would suggest is, and this might, I don't mean to be harsh, but perfection is the enemy of good.

Don't throw this proposal away because it's not perfect. Let us get to a position where we can add and build on it for 20, 30, 50 years. And if the Hawkesbury grows that big, well, it's up to you guys to provide another pool the other side of the creek. That's simple. Thank you.

Thank you.

Steve Payne

Good evening. Thank you, Mayor and the councillors for the opportunity to talk again. Last month at the council meeting I spoke about the history, age and the use of the pool and its proposal for a government grant for an eight-lane pool. We also heard from Fiona Stevens, who also works for the State Government as a social water swim program coordinator in Metro West area. Fiona delivered an accurate and current details of primary school age students receiving state government-sponsored Learn to Swim programs. The facts and figures from Fiona were pleasing for what she'd been able to achieve, but also painted a bleak picture about the number of children in Hawkesbury missing out on very important service.

The fact is, knowing how to swim is a life skill. Both Fiona and I myself underscore the ability of her program to extend beyond roughly two months. She is currently able to carry out this program due to the coldness of the water and the availability of the lanes. In 2022, the announcement was made by the Mayor, state member and pool staff that an eight-lane pool would be built to replace the existing six-lane pool. It was fantastic, exciting news for the Hawkesbury and in particular for Richmond. The grant of $30 million was partly fund the project and Hawkesbury City Council the remainder. Moving forward to last Tuesday, I attended a meeting at Richmond Pool chaired by Mrs. Leanne Miller Bassett, the senior project manager.

I was shocked and disappointed to be hearing that the current six-lane pool was going to be replaced with a six-lane pool, and the information was quite negative from her in relation to the eight-lane pool that was outlined in the original proposal by the state government. To be honest, I was quite disheartened and sad. We could get— We could be getting an eight-lane pool to replace a six-lane pool. I do understand there's financial constraints and acknowledge that. I believe the six-lane outdoor pool to be built would have the same issues that we currently have. This facility would add to the social cohesion that we seek and actually exist at other aquatic centres, including Windsor. Quite simply, this would be a gathering place for many people and would assist with their mental health within the community.

At present, we don't have this at Richmond Pool. This eight-lane outdoor pool will be a huge complement as a major project. I firmly believe that every council member could be proud of knowing that they are a major part of this project by voting for the project. It's something that Hawkesbury and Richmond will be very proud of in the future. I urge the Mayor, the Hawkesbury Councillors, to stand with me and many other people out in the community for an eight-lane pool. And once again, as I said once before, this is a lifetime opportunity. Let's not miss it. Thank you very much. Mr

Stephen, any questions, Councillors?

Sorry I had to speak so fast. Thank you.

The next item is 11.1.3. Councillor McMahon, you declared? Yeah,

Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm declaring a pecuniary interest and a significant non-pecuniary interest in the item, as I have past connections to individuals who may be involved with the DA. Thank you.

Thank you. We have two speakers. Damein Fenley.

Good evening, Councillors. Good evening, members of the public. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'd firstly like to reflect on the community strategic plan for 2045, which I think is a wonderful vision, and it is encouraging in the current political climate to have such vision. What I take from that is that we must, and what's been called, protect our rural heritage and our rural culture, and that we should build a thriving and sustainable local economy, and that we should encourage, educate and enable healthy, safe living. The proposed development of a McDonald's and KFC is at odds with that vision. There is some low-hanging fruit. It is well documented that these fast food outlets are poor for health, but we also are seeing a rapid and emerging science around gut health and its relationship to processed foods.

This will be the new smoking, and we have a responsibility to our children. And on children, beside a childcare and a school is almost comical. It is akin to a zookeeper putting housing the predators next to the prey. But the cynical side of me suggests that perhaps the location and the childcare centres may be sacrificial lambs to proceed this development. The roads, the traffic. For anyone travelling west, we dread the lowlands. We long to cross Redbank Creek and get into some clean air, and we will create another choke point. Business we are about, hospitality and tourism. This will cripple our local economy, our local businesses, and this will damage our credibility. We are uniquely positioned in the Hawkesbury.

We are on the doorstep of one of the biggest, safest, most cosmopolitan cities in the world. There are four million people who want what we have. There are countless tourists who wish they could have what we have, and they cannot buy what we have. They seek and we have authenticity. They seek to experience our rural character. They come to seek and see what thriving healthy children and that upbringing can be. We are a rare commodity in an increasingly artificial world. It reminds me of a poor knock-knock joke in which the recipient, when saying, Who's there? hears, It's opportunity, and they respond, It cannot be opportunity, because opportunity only knocks once. This is our opportunity to maintain the integrity of the Hawkesbury, and in increasing years, this will be what draws people to the Hawkesbury.

This jeopardises that. It is bad for health, bad for kids, bad for roads, bad for business, and bad for our credibility. Thank you.

Thanks very much. Councillors

The second speaker is Mark Matella.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Councillors and members of the public. Thank you for allowing us to speak tonight in regards to this proposal at 291 Bells Line Road, North Richmond. I live on 43A Eames Road, so I'm very well aware of the issues that affect that road. The report that was put through the DA, mainly the transport plan, really doesn't pass the pub test. There's so many flaws in that document. Just to highlight a few, they state that McDonald's will have a total of 1,552 cars weekly through there, KFC 502 and childcare at 515. For McDonald's to be viable, based on the figures that are obtained through McDonald's, they will require 5,675 cars daily—weekly, sorry. KFC 1,460. Now these are numbers that they require to make that proposal at $14.7 million viable.

Their numbers just don't add up, and those numbers are pretty good. I can state that they are fact, and I stand by those. They've got the childcare at 64 car movements going in and 39 going out. So unless there's a DA in for a motel, I don't know where the other 25 kids are going to stay overnight. So, yeah, there is questions right through that whole proposal. There is just—it's flawed through and through.

The other aspects of that we looked at was the wastewater management side of that proposal. There's a lot of flaws in that diagram. I've had it actually independently looked at by a town planner of out of area, and he also said it just doesn't add up. The system that they've got in place will not be sufficient to run those sorts of numbers, and the risk to Redbank Creek and the surrounding waterways is very high. So I urge Council, going through the planning panel, if we get to that stage, they seriously look at those sorts of areas of concern. So the wastewater area is a big concern. Also, the other part too is the historical value of the area. It is a very significant area of fauna and wildlife through there, and this will also be greatly affected throughout the area with the proposal to put this in.

The traffic congestion turning right out of our road at the moment is appalling. Come school holidays, public holidays, weekends, it does take a lot of time to get out there. Now, you throw in there another thousand cars a day minimum. It's going to be impossible for that traffic to flow with only a give way sign there. There is a right-hand turning lane in, coming down the mountains, and a left-hand lane going in as well. It just will not handle that traffic. There's going to be accidents galore. There is many near misses as it is, just with local traffic. And then on top of that, with pedestrian traffic coming from Colo High School and the kids there, there is no allocated pedestrian walkway.

There is going to be a recipe for disaster for the kids there as well. So I'm greatly concerned for their safety as well.

Thank you. Any questions, Councillors? Thank you, Mark. Thank you.

Is Mr John Bassil here?

Mr John Bassil?

We've got Oakville Public School, Lisa. Macklin , is it? Lisa.

My name is Lisa Macklin, and I'm the president of the Oakville Public School P&C Association. My children have been attending Oakville Public School for over six years. Over that time, I've had the privilege of watching the school grow, evolve and strengthen as a community. In 2026, our enrolments at Oakville have grown to over 650 students. That kind of growth represents hundreds of additional daily journeys to and from the school, more families, more cars, more movement, and inevitably more complexity in the surrounding road environment. However, the infrastructure around the school has not kept pace with that growth. At present, there are no pedestrian crossings at the school. The footpath network is incomplete, which means that for most families, there is no continuous safe path from where they park their car at the school gate— sorry, to the school gate.

At the same time, the volume of traffic has increased significantly, resulting in cars parking in tight and often unsuitable locations, making difficult turns and navigating a space that is not designed to handle this level of demand. Every day, children are walking between parked cars and moving vehicles, stepping out onto roads without the protection of a designated crossing and relying entirely on drivers to see them and react in time. Even the most cautious parent cannot eliminate the risk in that situation because the system itself is not safe. When it comes to children, near misses should never be accepted as normal. Each close call is a warning sign, and right now there are too many warning signs being ignored.

I want to acknowledge something that is really difficult to say, but is also important. Not far from our community, at Rouse Hill Public School, a young girl was tragically killed after being hit by a car in unsafe conditions around that school. That family picked up their child from school and expected to bring her home, but didn't. That tragedy is a heartbreaking reminder that these risks are not theoretical; they are real, and they can have absolutely devastating consequences. This issue and the concerns are well understood within the Oakville school community. However, from the perspective of families on the ground, the pace of change has not matched the increased level of risk. When infrastructure does not match the level of use, it creates conditions where mistakes become more likely and consequences more severe.

We should not be relying on vigilance and luck to keep children safe.

It is crucial that this does not become an issue that is delayed, debated endlessly, or viewed through a political lens. The safety of children should never depend on competing priorities or prolonged processes. It is a fundamental responsibility, and it is what our families are asking for. So tonight, I'm asking Council to take decisive and timely action to improve safety around Oakville Public School. Commit to clear, time-bound actions that provide confidence to the community that this issue is being addressed with the urgency it deserves. Because at the moment, every single day, children are being asked to navigate an environment that is not designed to keep them safe and hope is not a safety strategy.

Thank you. Thank you. Any questions, Councillors? Have you seen the road plans that have been done by Council recently?

Yes. Yep. Yep

Thank you. Thanks.

Councillor, it's been circulated from Alora Young, her discussion that she wanted to be circulated amongst you. Councillors, that's the end of this session. I just say, I wonder whether our local member, considering the request from schools tonight, might not have come again

Before I close, though, I would like to recognise that it is great to have our local member in the gallery to hear the discussions from the public. These sessions are here for the public to express their views in whichever matters they decide to speak on, and to have her here tonight is a pleasure. Thank you. Councillors, with that, before we start the next meeting, there will be a small break. The staff have to prepare the IT staff side to clear.