Hundreds call for lower speed limit at school

HUNDREDS of people in Merthyr Tydfil want the speed reduced outside a school because of fears over child safety.

A petition has been signed by more than 200 people calling for the speed on the A4054 near Abercanaid Community School to be reduced from 40mph to 30mph.

The petition was set up by Anna Williams Price, who lives in Pentrebach and whose son has just started at the school.

She says she knows of many people who have had near-misses on the crossing from Pentrebach to get to the school, which lies near a bend in the road.

She said: “We don’t live there [in Abercanaid] so we have got to cross over from Pentrebach.

“The pedestrian crossing is just around a bend. People are coming around at speed, so it is very dangerous.

“I know a lot of other people who have had near-misses.”

But she said that the message coming back from the council was that there was no budget available in the last financial year.

Ms Williams Price said: “We want the council to realise the strength of feeling.”

“To get 237 people [to sign the petition], with parents and grandparents, shows that everyone is really behind it. It has been an issue for quite a few people.”

She said the important thing now is to get the council to do something about it.

She said local councillors Gareth Lewis, Harvey Jones and Brent Carter have all been supportive of the cause.

Cllr Lewis, Labour, said he is in “full support” of the petition.

He said: “The road is an important crossing for schoolchildren from Pentrebach to Abercanaid Community School and I am aware of several concerns raised by parents in relation to speeding vehicles along this road and the implications for the safety of children.”

The petition will be handed in to the council on Wednesday, June 27, after which officers will consider it and a report should come before full council in the near future.

Merthyr Tydfil Council hadn’t responded to a request for comment at the time of going to press.