MAY 29, 2018 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
see page 18
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
Wildlife pal in deeds
(Joe Mastroianni)
Derrimut’s Isaac Busuttil is a wildlife warrior determined to make a difference. In the past year, Isaac has been doing his bit to help out wildlife. He recently raised $436 for the orange bellied parrot breeding program at Werribee Zoo and is working on another project that is gathering significant momentum. Isaac has put together a petition to the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning over its proposal to stop wildlife shelters from rehabilitating native wildlife because animals such as the eastern grey kangaroo and wombats were in such abundant numbers. The nine-year-old’s petition has received more than 16,000 signatures in less than a month. “To see so many people sign the petition so quickly says to me that people agree that this is a silly idea,” Isaac said. “I’d like to see the idea scrapped and I think the more people who support this petition, the more chance we have of that happening.” Even with the lofty goal of 25,000 signatures in sight, Isaac isn’t getting complacent. “There’s still a lot of work to be done,” he said. Isaac said his passion for wildlife began during a trip to the zoo and has since morphed into a burning desire to make a positive and lasting difference. Petition details: bit.ly/2knahaa Tate Papworth
Priority call on road hazard By Tate Papworth Traffic congestion at two notorious Ballarat Road intersections is spurring Brimbank council into seeking urgent assistance from VicRoads. The council says the intersections at Anderson Road/McIntyre Road in Sunshine and at Station Road in Deer Park need action to improve safety and reduce delays. Brimbank mayor Margaret Giudice said the council would write to VicRoads about
$5.50
improving traffic flow at the troublesome intersections. “Motorists at these intersections frequently suffer long delays,” Cr Giudice said. “With rapid population growth across Melbourne’s west, these traffic problems will continue to worsen unless we see improvements to these important intersections.” Cr Lucinda Congreve, who raised the traffic issue at council’s May meeting, said the intersections were causing significant delays and had the potential to have impacts on freight
movements, productivity and community safety. “Our community is frustrated by continued delays as a result of motorists from different directions all converging on Ballarat Road – there’s simply no other easy way for drivers to get to the city,” she said. “I myself have experienced this frustration, having recently had to wait for seven changes of lights before I could turn right on to Ballarat Road.” Cr Congreve said impatient drivers were
creating hazardous driving conditions in the area. “We’ve had reports of vehicles running red lights, as well as drivers not being able to turn into local roads because of banked up traffic blocking lanes,” she said. “These issues must be investigated as a matter of priority, and solutions implemented to improve safety on our local roads, such as adjusting the timing of traffic lights to make it easier for traffic flowing on to Ballarat Road.”
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