Calls for Mt Ousley inquiry

" The scene at Fairy Meadow after last Thursday's Old Mt Ousley Rd runaway truck accident. Unions are calling for an inquiry.

CALLS for an inquiry and the relocation of a McDonald's restaurant have been made after last week's horrific truck accident at Fairy Meadow.

The South Coast Labour Council (SCLC) and Transport Workers Union (TWU) have called for an independent inquiry to prevent a repeat of Thursday's truck accident when a 20-year-old P-plate driver collected five cars and smashed one into the wall of the McDonald's restaurant.

Fifteen people were taken to Wollongong Hospital when the runaway table-top truck careered into the restaurant during the busy lunchtime rush.

SCLC secretary Arthur Rorris said the accident was the second time a truck had gone through that intersection with the Princes Highway at the bottom of Mt Ousley.

The Northgate Centre, where McDonalds is located, was a vacant block in August 1998 when 27-year-old Dundas driver Kurt James Jones was killed after his truck ploughed into a creek at the end of Old Mt Ousley Rd.

"How many people will it kill the next time a truck goes through McDonalds," Mr Rorris asked.

Mr Rorris raised questions as to why the development of the McDonalds site at the bottom of Mt Ousley was allowed given the danger posed by heavy vehicles.

He also raised concerns over the construction of a roundabout further up Mt Ousley despite the warnings from the truck drivers and the safety bans placed by the unions. The SCLC and unions placed bans on the construction of a roundabout on Old Mt Ousley Rd, further west of Thursday's accident, for more than 6 months in 2004 citing safety concerns relating to heavy vehicles.

"Either the vehicles or McDonalds needs to go and I think moving Maccas is the easier option," Mr Rorris said.

TWU secretary Richard Olsen says an inquiry is essential.

"We demand an inquiry independent of the RTA and Wollongong Council to determine not only the causes of this incident but also the future of roundabouts on Mt Ousley and the commercial development at the bottom of Old Mt Ousley Rd," Mr Olsen said.

"We also demand that the Police and Workcover inquiries be made public as soon as they are completed.

"You can't risk another accident like this and hope to be so lucky again that no one gets killed," he said.

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