School safety concerns remain

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SAFETY measures installed outside a school where two children were hit by a bus, do not go far enough claim concerned parents.

A survey found 96 per cent of parents remained concerned about the safety of children along the road outside Matchborough First School, despite £22,000 being spent on widening pavements, installing barriers and other improvements.

Campaigners have been pushing for a crossing to be installed outside the school since the incident last October.

But Worcestershire County Council has yet to make a decision on whether or not to install it, which could cost up to £50,000. In the meantime county councillors Juliet Brunner and Gay Hopkins used money from their divisional fund to help pay for the safety measures.

But a survey of parents found 67 per cent felt the work had not made the road safer for children to cross, while almost 77 per cent said it was not value for money.

Mother of two, Amanda Rogers, told the Standard: "I don't think the work is good. It's still not safe and the way the buses speed up and down the road is diabolical. You have to move the children away from the road all the time. A crossing would be brilliant and it would put a lot of parents minds at rest."

Coun John Fisher, who represents Matchborough on Redditch Borough Council and who carried out the survey with Matchborough West Community Group, welcomed the work but said it had to be effective.

"At a cost of over £22,000, Worcestershire's taxpayers have not received value for money and we still need a zebra crossing. We would have started fundraising for the extra thousands to get the crossing here and I know a lot of parents would of done this too."

Simon Evans, vice-chairman of the MWCG, added it was an 'accident waiting to happen' and money should not be an issue.

Coun Brunner said she was surprised by the results as she had not received a single negative comment.

"I am not prepared to compromise the safety of children in the interim period and that is why we wanted this work to be done as quickly as possible while we wait on a decision for a crossing."

Jackie Harris, headteacher at the school, added she had not received any complaints.

"In an ideal world we would like a crossing, but we are grateful for any safety works that can or have been done."

Jon Fraser, the county council's customer and community manager for highways, said an assessment would be carried out early next year to see if a pedestrian crossing was needed.

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