Agenda item

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.

•               Implement a lower 20 mph speed limit (which will probably require supporting traffic calming to be successful, depending on speed surveys).

•               Implement double yellow lines on the western side of Benner Lane between the existing School Keep Clear zig zags as far as across the junction with Great Barn Crescent. It is proposed that this will be implemented as part of the cyclical annual parking review for the Surrey Heath area.

•               Implement parking controls that would facilitate the use of the laybys outside the school as a drop off/pick up facility. At present is it not clear what the best way of achieving this might be. It is proposed that this will be implemented as part of the cyclical annual parking review for the Surrey Heath area.

Earlier this year the County Council confirmed a new £3million budget over the next three years for use in implementing highway schemes near schools to support more walking and cycling.

Unfortunately, this budget is already committed towards delivering schemes near schools that have been assessed over several previous years. However, the potential recommendations are being considered for future funding from the Countywide programme of Integrated Transport Schemes. There are several factors that will be taken into account as part of this consideration including the number of personal injury accidents, improving health, the environment and delivering good value for money. Schemes will also need to have the support and be nominated by the Local Divisional Member whose decision will be informed by the level of local support. In this case the local Divisional Member Cllr Rebecca Jennings-Evans has nominated this as a priority scheme to be assessed and considered for inclusion in the 2023/24 Countywide Integrated Transport programme. This programme is still being determined and the schemes that will be progressed for funding will be confirmed by the Cabinet Member later this year.

In addition to the highway improvements described above there were also recommendations made at the site visit for consideration by the school themselves:

•               Create a school travel plan using the national online portal Modeshift STARS. This is an action plan that the school will implement to support more walking and cycling for school journeys. The County Council’s Safer Travel Team can provide advice and training on creating a school travel plan. More information can be found here: About our road safety and sustainable travel options for schools - Surrey County Council (surreycc.gov.uk)

•               Implement a walking bus from Tringham Hall

•               In the meantime, continue advertising for a replacement School Crossing patrol