Protest over bid to cut kids’ buses
have spoken to in recent months have expressed an attack of conscience at decisions they are signing off as safe, due to implementation of a paper exercise and tick sheet based on type, width and surface condition of footpaths and the number of crossing points on the footpath,” said Councillor Fotheringham.
“Only if a footpath is unavailable then traffic volume, visibility and road width is considered.”
She said it has taken seven years since the closure of St Matthew’s Primary School to find a “safe walk route” with the widening of a footpath on a middle island at the Heathery Roundabout – the core roundabout into Wishaw, with four exit roads near University Hospital Wishaw.
She walked the route with parents and children at 3pm – a walk that coincided with hospital visiting and additional traffic heading to the A&E department, including ambulances.
“It easily took us 10 to 15 minutes to ‘play chicken’ across two main arteries using the centre islands,” said Councillor Fotheringham.
“The chevrons on the road are deemed a safe area, therefore are not considered as part of the road width. Yet over 90 per cent of the traffic we watched over a 20- minute period crossed into that safe area.”
Although transport will continue to be provided for children with additional health needs if the cuts are implemented, she says the proposals do not consider health needs or fitness levels of parents, carers and grandparents who take pupils to school.
With some children in the same family attending different nurseries and schools, she questioned whether they would have time to walk up to 12 miles a day to safely escort their children to school.
And she expressed concerns that this may impact on the employment or employability of working parents and lead to greater congestion on roads and around school gates.
“We are not getting it right for every child. I have concerns that the most vulnerable will again be the most affected,” she added.
“I fully agree with health promotion and walking to school initiatives but it must be done with safety as a priority.”
Councillor Carragher also called for a schoolbags weight limit to be considered, as well as a facility to allow children who have walked to school to dry off and learn comfortably in warm and dry clothing.
Councillor Agnes Magowan says she has “extreme safety concerns” about the proposed changes.
“I am working on addressing the extreme congestion at Knowetop, St Brendan’s, Muirhouse, Glencairn and Berryhill Primary Schools. Parents are actually putting their own children at risk in addition to the rest of the school population by unsafe parking,” she said.
“This will become much more severe when even more parents need to run their children to school. Pollution is also an issue causing asthma and breathing problems in children, yet the council are encouraging more cars on the roads near vulnerable schoolchildren.
“I am an advocate of health and fitness and I am a supporter of walking and cycling but the route needs to be safe before this can be allowed to happen.
“Many more crossing patrols will need to be provided as well as lockers in schools for a change of wet clothes for the children, so how much will the council actually save in the end?”
It was agreed that the guidance surrounding Walking Routes to School should be refreshed and a report will be presented to the infrastructure committee.
The council’s consultaton on the proposals is due to end on January 9.