First step to safety

Improvements to signs outside a junior and infants’ school in Southwell warning drivers of pupils crossing the road are not enough to ensure children’s safety, according to campaigners.

Nottinghamshire County Council will try to make the signs outside Lowe’s Wong junior and infants’ schools more visible to drivers.

The triangular warning signs, with an image of children crossing the road, will have new, brighter lights fitted that are set on a timer to be on when children arrive at or leave school.

The head of Lowe’s Wong Infants’ School, Mrs Vanessa Platt, said: “This is a step in the right direction but I would like to see even more done.

“I would personally like to see 20mph speed limit flashing signs outside the school.

“People have been talking about putting a crossing there for a long time but I think the feeling is that putting one in that location wouldn’t be safe because it’s on a corner.

“The county council could think of other things to do, such as installing traffic calming measures.”

Mrs Platt said they were still looking for a crossing patrol to help children cross the road outside the schools.

There has not been a patrol for almost two years.

The head of Lowe’s Wong Junior School, Mrs Sheila Street, said although the signs would be more obvious to motorists, she thought they would still be ignored.

She said: “Like most pieces of road furniture, after a while people stop noticing it so I think we need something bigger and better and more arresting, like a pedestrian crossing, that will have more chance of slowing people down.”

Mrs Street was concerned someone would be killed if more measures were not put in place to slow traffic.

She said:”It’s been an ongoing concern for both schools and the town council, which has supported us, but we are in that horrible situation where we don’t meet the criteria for a pedestrian crossing and we can’t find a crossing supervisor.

“When you are in the car you see signs, which are very effective, that show drivers what speed they are going at. Anything of that nature would be a huge help. If nothing is done I’m sure there will be an accident.”

Barbara Cray, a committee member for Southwell’s 20’s Plenty For Us group, campaigning for a 20mph speed limit in Southwell, said: “I don’t think this is a solution to slowing traffic down because by the time it gets to the school it is often going quite quick, but it is a positive step.

“If the county council is looking at slowing traffic down they must realise there is a problem with speeding, and that is the most important thing.”

Barbara Cray said the group would continue to campaign for pedestrian crossings outside Lowe’s Wong and Holy Trinity Infants’ schools.

She said: “It isn’t enough just to slow the traffic down outside the schools, the children have to be able to cross the road too.”

Nottinghamshire county councillor, Mr Bruce Laughton, said he would continue to campaign for a pedestrian crossing.

He said: “This campaign doesn’t stop just because they are introducing some facilities to improve children’s safety.”

The county council will reassess the possibility of a crossing outside the Lowe’s Wong schools.

It was criticised for agreeing to install a crossing outside a school in Arnold, partly because of the difficulty in recruiting a crossing patrol, when Lowe’s Wong had been turned down.

Mr Laughton was told by the council’s portfolio holder for environment, Mrs Stella Smedley, that a reassessment would be carried out in Southwell.

The county council’s senior school travel officer, Mrs Susan Smith, said the improvements were part of the council’s Safer Routes To School programme.

She said: “The lights warn drivers to take extra care because children are crossing. They are to make drivers aware that they are in an area where there are more children and they need to think about slowing down.”