Issue - meetings

A petition with 181 signatures was submitted to the Committee on the 16 September 2019 expressing concern for safety of children arriving and leaving Danetree School.  This report outlines investigations into the nature and extent of the concerns, and possible highway and road safety education improvements to reduce them. These have been developed in accordance with the County Council’s Road Safety Outside Schools policy.

That the Local Committee [Epsom & Ewell] agreed:

(i)    the measures set out in paragraph 3.2 of this report be added to the list of possible future highway improvements in Epsom and Ewell for consideration for future Local Committee funding. Officers will also seek any alternative sources of funding that may arise, for example as a result of property development in the local area.

(ii)   that the Safer Travel Team will work with the school to encourage them to take up more of the road safety education and training activities offered by the county council, this will include a Modeshift STARS school travel plan and “Pedals” Year 2 (age 6/7) Scooter and bicycle training.

Reasons:  These proposed highway measures would improve the safety of pupils walking to and from Danetree School and help to reduce antisocial parking.  They would reduce the risk of collisions and improve the road environment to encourage more walking and scooting to school. A successful increase in these modes would contribute to fewer car journeys and less motor vehicle congestion. However the measures at this site would need to be considered alongside other schemes across Epsom and Ewell. The recommended school travel plan and road safety education improvements would also help to improve road safety and reduce reliance on the car for the school journey.

Declarations of Interest: None

Officers attending: Nick Healey, Area Highways Manager

Petitions, Public Questions/Statements: None

Member discussion –key points

It was queried whether the School is complying with the requirements of its planning permission in terms of its travel plan.

The Area Highways Manager stated that all the proposals put forward have some merit but they could be implemented individually.  The divisional member although not present was supportive of the proposals.

Members were concerned at the number of schemes being considered for prioritisation when the available budget is small and it was proposed that “prioritisation” should be deleted from the recommendation.  This was supported unanimously.

Resolved: To agree:

(i)    the measures set out in paragraph 3.2 of this report be added to the list of possible future highway improvements in Epsom and Ewell for consideration for future Local Committee funding. Officers will also seek any alternative sources of funding that may arise, for example as a result of property development in the local area.

(ii)   that the Safer Travel Team will work with the school to encourage them to take up more of the road safety education and training activities offered by the county council, this will include a Modeshift STARS school travel plan and “Pedals” Year 2 (age 6/7) Scooter and bicycle training.

Reasons:  These proposed highway measures would improve the safety of pupils walking to and from Danetree School and help to reduce antisocial parking.  They would reduce the risk of collisions and improve the road environment to encourage more walking and scooting to school. A successful increase in these modes would contribute to fewer car journeys and less motor vehicle congestion. However the measures at this site would need to be considered alongside other schemes across Epsom and Ewell. The recommended school travel plan and road safety education improvements would also help to improve road safety and reduce reliance on the car for the school journey.