End of the road looms for city lollipop patrols
BIRMINGHAM’S yellow-coated army of lollipop men and women are set to be axed for good – unless schools can raise the cash to fund their own.
City council leaders plan to cull the 189 crossing patrol wardens currently operating across Birmingham to save cash as part of its budget proposals.
The move could mark the final demise of the lollipop men and women who have helped generations of school children cross busy highways across the city for more than 50 years.
The lollipop wardens were last under threat three years ago, when a campaign led by our sister paper The Birmingham Mail and supported by city MPs and unions, persuaded the city council to drop the plan.
Their number has since been reduced and the only ones remaining work at what are described as “high risk” crossing points.
The council says it is difficult to recruit new staff, even at these locations. As a result some have been without a patrol for months.
Under the new proposal, however, those remaining posts would also be axed.
The council proposes to make each post redundant when they next become vacant through departure or retirement.
However, the city council is also offering schools and communities the chance to save their ‘lollipop’ if they can raise the cash to pay their wages. The council will still fund training, uniforms, site risk and supervision.
They also pledged to continue to offer small grants to schools to develop their own school travel plans to encourage more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school and to improve road safety.
The move would save an estimated £480,000 over four years, as posts become redundant.
Schools across the city seemed unaware of the threat to their patrols this week.
Kate Stone, head at Hawthorn Primary School in Kingstanding, said
We literally have no other road safety in place. Carol is our children’s only defence
she was dismayed the positions were under threat again. But she was reassured to hear that the current popular lollipop lady’s position was not threatened. Located on a busy road junction, the school’s families have been seen across the road by Carol Potter for 20 years.
“We literally have no other road safety in place,” said the head. “Our pleas for a 20mph zone or a safe crossing have been turned down, so Carol is our children’s only defence against bad driving.”
In the course of her work Carol has been struck by a car, had several near misses and been verbally abused by impatient motorists.
Last year, pupils launched a petition for more safety measures, but their plea to the city council was turned down, though schools elsewhere were successful.
Kate Stone