Macedon Ranges Shire Council has progressed on the request by St Mary’s Primary School in Lancefield to close a section of Raglan Street.
St Mary’s Primary School proposed the closure of Raglan Street and rallied earlier this year, calling to connect the two sides of its campus permanently as it foresaw an increase in enrolments and identified a future need to construct buildings on the west side of its premises.
Council endorsed the commencement of a four-week community consultation process in July this year that has now been completed, through which 86 submissions were received – 91 per cent in support of the proposed road closure and nine per cent opposed.
At its October 25 meeting, a director of assets and operations report recommended that council ‘endorses the discontinuance of Raglan Street, Lancefield, between Chauncey Street and 25 Dunsford Street; and notes that delegated officers will proceed with the formal process to discontinue Raglan Street, Lancefield’.
Cr Geoff Neill moved the motion and Cr Bill West seconded; the motion carried with no opposition.
Mayor Annette Death said the school had appropriately engaged council and presented a well-considered proposal.
“This process has been instigated and led by St Mary’s Primary School and came to us at council as the relevant authority. I’d like to thank council staff for the real thorough process that we’ve undertaken to this point to support the school community and support the Lancefield community through that community consultation and taking onboard those submissions that were received,” she said.
Key reasons for supporting the proposal included significantly enhancing the safety and security of school children, parents, and the community; no adverse impact on the businesses operating in the area; and available space to accommodate demand has been maximised, and this closure will support potential future growth for both the school and the township.
In November 2022, council officers also reviewed the traffic report, which notes the daily volume of about 100 vehicles on the affected section of Raglan Street will not result in any detrimental impact on other surrounding streets if the road is discontinued.
“This will have some potential impact … but through the study and traffic reports to this point, it was seen that it was the best option to move forward, and I’d like to thank everybody for their work in bringing to this point and to St Mary’s Primary School for bringing it to council,” Cr Death said.
