• Berwick Gazette
• Pakenham Gazette

By Melissa Grant

28th October 2009 02:00:25 AM

Left: Bradley Venables was lucky to escape relatively uninjured after he was struck by a car in Beaconsfield.

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A MOTHER has urged motorists to take care outside of Aldi in Beaconsfield after a car hit her son.

Bradley Venables, 14, was knocked off the bicycle he was riding near the supermarket on Sunday, 18 October, but his mother Leanne said it wasn’t the first time she had seen a near-miss at the busy intersection.

“I’ve been nearly cleaned up twice,” she said.

“The cars think they can dart out and do a turn in front of you.

“People are just in a hurry these days.”

Bradley, a Year 8 student at Berwick Secondary College, complained of a sore leg after the incident, which destroyed his father’s bicycle.

Mrs Venables said the Trek bike, similar to that ridden by champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, would cost between $6000 and $8000 to fix.

She said Bradley was upset that the bike was a write-off, as he had planned to ride it at a triathlon in Noosa, Queensland on 31 October.

Mrs Venables said while it was a shame the bike was ruined, she considered her son very lucky.

“A bike is a material object when you think of human life,” she said.

Cardinia Shire councillor Brett Owen said it wasn’t the first time residents had expressed concern about the intersection outside Aldi in Beaconsfield.

Cr Owen said the council was seeking to improve access to the retail area by providing an additional accessway to Beaconsfield-Emerald Road.

“It’s noted that congestion is quite significant in that area, particularly with the new Woolworths,” he said.

The council is in the process of compulsorily acquiring the parcel of land at Beaconsfield’s Central Hotel after negotiations with the landowner broke down earlier this year.

The landowner wanted the council to pay $210,000 for the 226-square-metre piece of land, despite the council believing it was worth $12,000.

It is expected that coun-cil will take possession with-in weeks and that construction of the accessway will begin before the end of the year.

Cr Owen also said the council would also review Beaconsfield’s traffic strategy as part of its township strategy review in early 2010.

Police have charged a Beaconsfield woman, aged in her forties, with failing to give way.

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