PLANS for a new pedestrian crossing near a Dursley school are in jeopardy after an application was made by a developer to back out of its obligation.

Littlecombe builder St Modwen submitted plans in May outlining its plans to improve the junction of Kingshill Lane and Kingshill Road as part of commitments it made when permission for the £150million project was agreed.

Part of the conditions tied to the application’s approval was that a new pedestrian crossing be constructed just south of the junction.

However after being commissioned to carry out surveys at the site near Rednock School, infrastructure firm Amey has recommended that no changes be made to crossing facilities.

Following this revelation, an extraordinary meeting of the town council’s planning committee was called and was held last Wednesday.

Chairman Cllr Matt Nicholson objected to the request by St Modwen to remove its obligation to install a new crossing in the face of several recent incidents involving Rednock students and traffic in Kingshill Road over recent years.

“I feel that we need one [a crossing],” he said. “I think that given recent press over near misses involving children on Kingshill Road we still need to pursue this issue.”

His views were not backed by the rest of the committee which felt that with two other crossings in Kingshill Road and its proximity to the fire station entrance, a third was not needed.

Cllr Loraine Patrick said that the crossing was “a waste of time” and “badly thought out” and that students would not use it if it was installed.

St Modwen Homes managing director Dave Smith said: “Within our design we are obliged to consider safety factors, in accordance with current standards, including the proximity of the fire station which is a substantial consideration.

"The proposed design, which omits the pedestrian crossing, creates dedicated traffic lanes in and out of Kingshill Lane.

"This approach will improve traffic safety in this area."

Although the majority of councillors supported the request not to install a crossing the committee agreed to object to St Modwen’s application on technicalities.

An error in the document produced by Amey rejecting the need for a crossing referred to Kingshill Road as Kingshill Lane, whilst councillors also backed comments by Gloucestershire County Council’s highways officers that to remove the obligation, St Modwen would have to submit a new application rather than just vary the planning condition.

On those grounds the committee unanimously agreed to object to the application but would reconsider when the errors had been corrected.

Earlier this year, councillors joined police officers and Rednock headteacher David Alexander in teaching students the importance of using Kingshill Road’s existing crossings.