Issue - meetings

This petition of 120+ signatories was submitted by Daniel Shevill.

The full petition and response are attached.

PETITION 1 - HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL (WEST END) ROAD SAFETY

“We the undersigned petition Surrey County Council to Increase the safety of the children that attend Holy trinity school in West end by reducing the danger caused by traffic along Benner Lane. This can be achieved by the following: Reducing the speed limit along Benner Lane from 30mph to 20mph. Installation of a pedestrian zebra crossing at the entrance to the school to allow safe crossing of the road. Installation of speed calming bumps along Benner Lane to slow traffic. Repurposing of the unrestricted bay parking outside the school into a school drop off zone.

Justification:

School drop-off and pick-up at holy trinity school is having a major impact on the usage and safety of the surrounding roads.  A large number of vehicles use Benner Lane during drop off and pick up times. These are both parents and other traffic including large HGVs.  We would like speed safety measures installed in the immediate vicinity of the school to decrease the risk to the children and other pedestrians.  These should include measures to slow traffic down and allow the children to safely cross the busy road.

There are also two large unrestricted parking bays outside the school. These could have restrictions added to them in order to a facilitate a school led, safe and legal drop off zone.  I have created this petition this evening following attendance of a working group involving Mrs Ambrose (head teacher), local councillors and concerned parents.”

Submitted by: Daniel Shevill

Signatures: 120+

Cabinet Member Response:

Many thanks to the petitioners for raising their concerns over road safety near Holy Trinity School. School road safety is a frequently expressed concern across the county. At school drop off and pick up times the roads in the immediate vicinity of schools are especially busy. This often causes slower vehicle speeds and congestion, worsens air quality, and can lead to frustration from motorists and residents. This has been exacerbated at this site after the School Crossing Patrol left their role. Although there is budget available to pay for a replacement, despite the best efforts of the County Council and School it has not been possible to find a replacement.

The County Council has a policy which describes the process we use for investigating and responding to concerns about school road safety. Our aim is to reduce the risk of collisions and to make the road feel safer, to encourage more people to consider walking or cycling to and from school. The policy can be viewed via this link:  Road safety outside schools - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

This site has already been assessed by officers using the process set out in the Road Safety Outside Schools policy. This included a site visit involving highways and police road safety specialists alongside the Headteacher on 7 June 2022.

The resulting recommendations for highway improvements are summarised thus:

•               Implement a zebra crossing on a raised table at the existing informal crossing point.  ...  view the full decision text for item 3a