Bibra Lake student Owen Barnett shows councillor Phil Eva and residents association chair Felicity Bairstow how dry and dangerous the vacant land is. Photo by Bruno Harray.

PARENTS and residents are calling on the Education Department and Cockburn council to sort out a dusty patch of land and carpark next to Bibra Lake Primary School, saying it’s a fire and safety hazard.

The land, on the corner of Parkway Road and Bibra Drive, has an avenue of majestic gum trees, but beneath them tinder-dry leaf litter is piling up and the uncut grass crackles as you walk through it.

Locals say there’s other hazards lurking in there such as broken grass; across the road Bibra Lake has a well-known population of dugites.

The car park is also uneven and they say it needs resurfacing and railings. 

Ownership of the land has been a sticking point, with the council and department trying to shift responsibility to each other, but when the council released a designated land map recently, the penny dropped for locals and reignited their calls for action.

It showed that the vacant land belonged to the department, while the carpark was council controlled.

Bibra Lake Residents Association chair Felicity Bairstow says the two organisations should put their heads together to make it an “entrance statement” for the school.

Ms Bairstow says her association members have suggested a food forest of bush tucker and other native plants, with a spruce-up helping to lift local pride in the suburb.

She’s also calling for immediate action, saying autumn was the perfect time to start planting when it’s not too hot and there’s some rain about.

Cockburn councillor Phil Eva has been helping the residents’ association and school P&C and recently brought along MP Peter Tinley to have a look and chat to the two groups.

“It is a small price to pay for kids’ and parents’ safety,” Cr Eva says of a facelift.

He’d also like to see crosswalk guards and pedestrian islands installed near the school to slow down traffic and make it safer for the kids to cross.

by BRUNO HARRAY