'Children could die' (From Gazette Series)

'Children could die'

PARENTS whose children attend Stone with Woodford Primary School have told their MP they take their lives in their hands every day they walk to school.

David Drew met some of them on Monday to experience for himself the journey they are forced to take when they walk to school along the busy A38.

The owner of the school, the diocese of Gloucester, had plans for an extension, a 20-house development and a new access road turned down by Stroud District Council on the grounds it was inappropriate and there was a lack of safety provision.

The diocese lodged an appeal and submitted new plans. These will be considered by the council's development control committee later this month but, if refused for a second time, then both applications will be heard on appeal in October.

Staff and governors have said that an extension is desperately needed for the 106-pupil school and it is their only chance of getting 21st century facilities.

Approval of plans would also mean parents would no longer have to walk along the main road to reach the school grounds, as a new footpath would go through the churchyard.

Geraldine Langdon, of Court Meadow, whose eight-year-old daughter Jennifer, attends the school, said: "Sometimes I walk to school but it is so dangerous. You are taking your life in your hands. There is no way I would let my daughter walk to school alone.

"The new access would be a lot safer as the children would be away from lorries and cars."

Sabina Martin, a parent governor, has two children, Benjamin, five, and Joshua, nine, at the school.

She told the Gazette: "We have had an ongoing problem. It is a very busy main road. Drivers zoom down here. We are campaigning for it to become a 40mph.

"Highways are doing something about it but it is so slow. Children could die in the meantime and they wouldn't know about it.

"We have had one or two near-misses outside the school and at the junction but that is not to say that there couldn't be an accident."

Headteacher Kim McCalmont said: "Mr Drew thought that the was a lot of traffic and it was a good job that there was car parking available to parents at the school and at the hotel.

"The diocese have bought in a highways consultant to look at the plans and they are very good plans. We are optimistic they will go through.

"The development would benefit everybody. The community are behind it and I haven't heard anybody say that it is not a good idea. There will be extra space and it will link the school to the main village and the church."

After meeting parents Mr Drew said: "We have the problem that we need to get away from and there are a number of options. There are existing footpaths that haven't been used for a long time and, if you could open one of these up, the problem would be solved.

"It is a pain walking down that road. If you want people to walk to school, you need to make it worth while."