Parents take the lollipop fight to UK Parliament

Call for school crossing officer stepped up

A petition calling on South Lanarkshire Council to place a lollipop person at Woodlands Crescent has been lodged with the UK Government.

Established by the families of children attending Cairns and St Cadoc’s primary schools, the petition urges the UK Government to listen to worried parents after three children were knocked down within three months.

The most recent incident on May 17 saw two children aged six and nine hit by a car on Ivybank Avenue as they left Cairns Primary School.

And on March 8 a third child, a P6 pupil of the same school, was knocked down at 3pm.

All three children were treated for bruising and shock.

Karen Torley, the grandmother behind the Save Our Children South Lanarkshire Facebook page — launched alongside the government petition, said: “To have two kids knocked down at the same time — that’s just unacceptable.

“We don’t want anyone else to be killed or hurt, but the way things are going it is going to happen again — and next time they might not be so lucky as to have bruising and be shaken.

“There’s the Twenty’s Plenty speed limit, but people are getting impatient and there is road rage. It’s a mess, we need a lollipop person there.”

Explaining the issue would be discussed at the next meeting of Halfway Community Council, Karen said: “I would say to parents to get to the meeting, get involved.

“Everyone that has a child or grandchild that attends these schools, it is up to you to do something about it. We can’t think that someone else will do it.”

Karen, 52, said parents also had a responsibility to walk children to school and reduce the volume of traffic wherever possible.

She added: “We have to help ourselves and think do we really need to take the car? I know sometimes parents are going to work and they have to drop the kids off on their way and that can’t be helped, I understand that, but the people that are able should help us help ourselves, if they live close don’t take the car.”

Gordon Mackay head of roads and transportation services at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “Woodland Crescent and surrounding streets at these schools are subject to the council’s Twenty’s Plenty advisory 20mph initiative and a one-way system. An assessment for the provision of a school crossing patroller was undertaken but fell below the threshold.

“We have been working with both schools in the area to distribute road safety materials and to develop travel plans and we would urge drivers to avoid parking in the immediate vicinity of the school if at all possible.

“However, if they do, they should adhere to the Highway Code which means not parking on the pavement and we would ask them to observe the yellow ‘school keep clear’ markings.”

The UK Government will review the parents petition and, if approved, will release it for online signatures in the coming days. The link to the petition can be found on the Save Our Children South Lanarkshire Facebook page.