The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Cycling fears for school commute
A MOTHER who is scared her son could be injured on his cycling commute to school has spearheaded a campaign to introduce a new bike path.
Tasha Robinett, of Church Walk, Yaxley, is worried that her son Logan (16) could be knocked off his bike and injured or even killed when cycling to Stanground Academy, in Peterborough Road, Stanground, Peterborough.
She works full-time and claims the eight-mile round-trip is too far for her son to walk.
Logan currently catches a free bus to school but that service is only offered to children from Year 7 to Year 11 and will not be available when he starts his A Levels in September.
The annual cost to catch a bus from Yaxley to Stanground is around £500 leaving him the only option to cycle along the busy B1109 Peterborough Road - where she has been campaigning for a cycle route to be built.
The application has been supported by Stanground Academy and Cambridgeshire County Council, but the cycle lane cannot be made a reality until an unnamed farmer who owns land next to the road allows it to be built.
Mrs Robinett said: “Somebody is going to get killed and something has to be done to stop that. When children go into sixth form, the Government feels fit that parents have to pay for transportation.
“I have been speaking with the council and the school and they both agree that we need a cycle route between Yaxley and Stanground, we just need the farmer’s permission.
“My concern regarding this lack of cycle way is not solely for the cyclist but also for the drivers. Due to the industrial sites in Yaxley now, there has been a major increase in commercial vehicles using this road.”
Mrs Robinett first spoke to the council in October 2011 and was initially advised that the plan had been approved.
A Cambridgeshire County Council spokesman said: “We have secured the planning consent for the cycle path and the preliminary design is complete.
“We still need to procure the land. Issues of land ownership remain that will delay implementation until they can be resolved.”
The farmer who owns the land earmarked for the cycle path could not be reached by The Evening Telegraph.
Alison Ross, who became Stanground Academy principal last month, has backed behind the campaign.
Mrs Ross said: “A parent told me about the lack of a cycle path and it was quite obvious to see that the need was absolutely there.
“The academy is the local school and pupils should be able to get here safely, and on the buses it can cost £500 a year.
“We want to help young people to get to school for post-18 education.
“If they had the cycle lanes it would help a lot of young people.
“If they have got the permission from the county council I think everyone is wanting it to happen.
“It is not just one mum’s point of view. It is the school’s point of view.”
(METP-16-05-12BD502) Picture: BEN DAVIS.