Success for campaign to have crossing put on busy road by school in Cubbington
A campaign to have a pedestrian crossing put by a school in Cubbington near Leamington has proved to be a success.
The hard-fought campaign to have Warwickshire County Council (WCC) agree to install the crossing on the very busy Windmill Hill near the gates of Our Lady and St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School (OLST) has been led by parish councillor Esther McCarthy and county councillor Ben Edwards (Lib Dem, Cubbington and Leek Wooton) with support from Kenilworth and Southam MP Sir Jeremy Wright and OLST’s headteacher Matt Pettle.
As part of the campaign, almost 3,000, villagers, parents of pupils and the wider school community signed a petition which were submitted to WCC.
Theis was then presented to councillors and discussed during a meeting at WCC’s Shire Hall headquarters in Warwick yesterday (Thursday September 24) where Mr Pettle delivered an impassioned speech to highlight the need for the crossing.
He said: “The number of signatures demonstrates the strength of feeling within our community.
"It is a concerned shared by thousands of people that the current situation on Windmill Hill presents and unacceptable risk to children, families and residents.
"Every school day, hundreds of children and their parents make their way to and from our school.
"Many of these journeys require crossing Windmill Hill – a road which has significant volumes of traffic where vehicle speeds, despite warning signs, can make crossing difficult and intimidating – particularly for young children, older residents and those with mobility needs.
"As a school we work tirelessly to encourage healthy lifestyles, active travel, independence and environmental responsibility.
"We encourage families to walk, cycle or scoot to school wherever possible but many people tell us they feel unsafe doing so because of the challenges faced by crossing this busy road.
"Some chose to drive short distances rather than walk which causes further congestion and creates a cycle which benefits no one.
He added: “We regularly get reports of near misses involving pedestrians attempting to cross Windmill Hill.
"Thankfully these incidents have not yet resulted in a tragedy.
“The fact we can point to near misses rather than serious injury should not be a reason for delay it should be a reason for action whil we still have the opportunity to prevent one.”
Mr Pettle pointed out that after almost a decade there is now a crossing guard in place outside the school but that this can not be viewed as a long-term and sustainable solution.
He said: “The installation of a crossing on Windmill Hill would be a practical, proportionate and lasting investment in public safety.
"It would support active travel, improve accessibility, reduce anxiety for families and help protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
"Most importantly, it would send a clear message that the safety of our children and residents is this council’s priority.”
At the end of Mr Pettle’s speech, Councillor Stephen Shaw (Reform UK, Polesworth) who is WCC’s transport portfolio holder, confirmed that the project is now on the authority’s active travel fund and that ‘a crossing would be coming to Cubbington’.
OLST said: “We are so pleased that the safety of our children and their families is being seen as a priority, and that our local community will soon have a safer route to travel around our village.”