ANGRY parents say school children as young as five will be risking their lives when log trucks begin taking out timber from a Bright pine plantation today.
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Up to 100 trucks a week will rumble past Bright P-12 for the next three months.
Signage has been put in place and loggers say truck drivers have agreed to a self-imposed 20kmh limit near the school.
But Alpine Council is struggling to explain why a supervised crossing has not been installed for the school’s students.
“I’m trying to get to the reason why this hasn’t happened sooner but it will happen,” chief executive Ian Nicholl said yesterday.
Spokeswoman for school parents Fiona Reddaway said the crossing should have been installed before the trucks started carting the logs.
Now, more than 500 students had no choice but to cross the road used by the logging trucks without guidance.
“It is simply not good enough,” she said.
“There have been discussions for the past four months and yet the day before the trucks start rolling the council hasn’t even done the paperwork to have the crossing in place.”
Yesterday, HVP Plantations northern region general manager Rob Hescock confirmed trucks would start taking out logs today.
He said an average 50 trucks would use Bakers Gully Road each week.
Mr Hescock, who also has children at the school, said HVP supported plans for a supervised crossing.
His company has also offered to provide an education program to warn of the dangers of crossing the road and to “demystify” logging trucks.
But Ms Reddaway said children were still in the firing line.
“HVP aren’t evil, they have been supportive of our concerns and proactive,” she said.
“But five and six-years-olds are impulsive, they can’t remember a safety talk two weeks ago.
“When a birthday cake is on the other side of the road they will forget about the logging trucks.”
