Road Safety outside Stamford Green Primary School

The expansion of Stamford Green Primary School has already been approved. However Cllr Stella Lallement is concerned that more needs to be done to improve road safety for children en route to the school as part of the expansion plans.

Her on-line petition on the Surrey County Council website is steadily attracting signatures and this Thursday she was interviewed about it on BBC Surrey. Her interview will be on their website here until 3 July. It starts 01:40:13 one hour, forty minutes and thirteen seconds into the recording.

Stella explains that she is not opposed to the expansion, but she wants to see road safety measures included now by SCC School Planners, not left for SCC Highways Engineers and councillors on SCC Local Committee to sort out afterwards.

Her petition can be found at: http://petitions.surreycc.gov.uk/SGPS-expansion/. The improvements to the expansion plan that the petition proposes are:

• A pedestrian crossing outside the main gate - Although improvements to the main drive are included, a proper safe pedestrian crossing is still needed where drivers must stop and give way to pedestrians. With flat raised road humps drivers are not obliged to stop. The road is already dangerous and expanding the school will increase the risk of incidents.
• Additional staff parking - The school car park has no spare capacity. After expansion, it is expected that the staff will increase by 40%, yet the plans show only a 4% increase of parking spaces in the car park, forcing the rest to park in the road. Additional staff parking should be provided at the school's West Gate leading to Manor Park.
• Easier use of the school's West gate - Future demand for school places will come from Noble Park as well as Manor Park. The school's West gate, leading to Manor Park, provides their safest route to the school, avoiding the busy B280 Christ Church Road and the congestion in Manor Green Road and Christ Church Mount.
• A drop-off/pick-up area for parents near the West Gate. This would reduce congestion in Christ Church Mount, making it easier for emergency services to reach the school quickly in the event of an accident.
• An off-road cycle path linked to the one that is about to be constructed along Christ Church Road, avoiding the on-road cycle route along Manor Green Road, which is not safe for primary school children.

To sign the petition, use the link: http://petitions.surreycc.gov.uk/SGPS-expansion/.

The Deadline for signing it is 10 July 2014.