Road safety concerns for Ocean Shores Public School

When a child was struck by a car near Ocean Shores Public School the P&C were quick to contact Byron Shire Council (BSC) on 13 August 2025, saying, ‘Thankfully, they [the child] were not seriously injured, but the incident has caused significant distress within the school community and highlights the need for immediate attention to pedestrian and traffic safety in the area’.

Key concerns

The P&C requested Council review current safety measures including: improved signage and visibility; traffic calming measures (e.g. speed humps, narrowing, raised crossings); and community education initiatives. In particular they were concerned ‘about the high speeds observed along Shara Boulevard and Kallaroo Circuit – both key routes for children travelling to and from school. Of particular concern is the transition from the 80km/h zone on Shara Boulevard. Vehicles are not adequately slowing down, and there are currently no traffic calming measures in place before entering the school zone’.

‘I live on the edge of the 80km/h zone on Shara Boulevard where it drops to 50km/h and, in reality, many cars don’t slow down to the speed limit,’ local resident Shailei Forrester told The Echo.

‘There are no traffic calming measures and no safe pedestrian crossings along Shara Boulevard at all, which makes it unsafe for children trying to get to school.’

BSC responded, seven months later, on 13 March, 2026. They told the P&C that, ‘Unfortunately, due to current financial constraints, we do not have the necessary funding or resources available to complete this work within the current financial year’.

Create safety

Speaking to The Echo P&C president Sara Gloede said, ‘Transport accidents are the leading cause of death of children 0 to 14 in Australia; 30km/h speed limits in high-pedestrian areas reduce serious injury by 50 per cent. In the past 12 months an Ocean Shores child was hit by a car, and I witnessed a six-year-old in a near miss just the other day. No traffic calming between an 80km/h zone and a school is not ok.

‘Primary school children are still developing, and their developmental stage makes them vulnerable to accidents – as the number of cars in Ocean Shores grows, we need to adjust the environment to make it safe for kids to travel to school.’

After being contacted by The Echo local MP Tamara Smith said she has reached out to both the minister for regional roads and the minister for education to see if she can get an urgent assessment of the situation, and she will be taking the issue to the Byron Shire Local Traffic meeting in April.

‘The Ocean Shores Public School community and P&C have every right to be angry that their cries for assistance have not been acted upon by any level of government, and I share their fear around the safety of children with such a high volume of school buses dropping students off just the other side of a 80km/h zone,’ she said.

‘We cannot have a 80km/h zone turning into a 40km/h school zone on Shara Boulevard without at least some traffic calming measures put in place.’

Byron Council have responded to The Echo questions saying, ‘Transport for NSW manages all road speed limits, including school zones. It recently advised it is extending the school zone at Ocean Shores Public School in April this year.’

On Monday Transport for NSW distributed a leaflet to neighbours stating that they will extend the school zone area from Tuesday, 7 April.

‘Extending the school zone 35m is a great start but doesn’t solve slowing traffic along Kallaroo Circuit and Shara Boulevard (including the bus stop just after the 80km/h sign), the main routes kids travel along. Speed bumps would still remain important,’ Sara told The Echo. 

‘The handout isn’t clear if they’re going to put a zebra crossing over Kallaroo Circut. It will be interesting to see what they actually do. A zebra crossing would be good.’