Council posters in the Yarraville village
Maribyrnong council have now added "information" posters about the dots in the village, in an attempt to "educate" the community about the purpose of the dots.
The petition has been very troubled by the rhetoric arising from many (and the assertion by council) that some how the onus is on parents to "control" their kids, and that kids and parents somehow need to be "educated" about road settings.
Parents have been educating and delivering the safety message to their children about road safety and the need to "not play on the road" and be safe. Yet now council has thrown a spanner to this messaging and painted these three installations in bright playful colours that appear like a game of Twister or a school yard setting - creating a pull factor for children to run away from the most attentive of parents. For a young child they are presented with conflicting information and creating confusion - and especially at younger ages like Toddlers who are unable to distinguish the intentions of various settings, for example between playground settings versus these installations.
Roads need to serve its function as being carriage ways of cars and not be seen by young children, as play areas. Regardless of how much "education" the council attempts to plaster on posters like this in an attempt to save face in pursuing its idea - the playful child friendly imagery of the crossings will always mean supersede any "education" efforts.
The attempt by council to install planter boxes, putting up posters like this or other superficial bandaid measures, only seeks to continue to avoid the core problem at hand - all whilst children will still be running right onto the road around any installations.
The Polka dots must go immediately! and the Yarraville community will respectfully make their voice heard at Yarraville festival on Sunday at the Maribyrnong council tent. The advocacy will continue until the dots are gone and now local MPs have disclosed they will be pushing for the dots to be removed at a state government level.
SHARE, SIGN AND MAKE THIS ISSUE KNOWN IN THE COMMUNITY.