THE JOURNEY to school for pupils in Oldbury-on-Severn will be much safer after councillors agreed to speed restrictions near the primary school.

A 20mph speed limit will now be introduced after members of the Severn Vale Area Forum to support the plans to reduce the speed of traffic in Church Hill.

The forum allocated £22,000 to the project at a meeting in March 2014 and, after considering objections to the proposals, agreed to push forward with the plans when they met on Wednesday, March 4.

Last year, when the funding was first allocated, the school’s headteacher Debbie Dix welcomed the decision.

She said: “This scheme will benefit our pupils and their parents but also many people in the wider community who walk up and down Church Hill, which is a steep and narrow lane with no footpath.”

Sixteen responses to the subsequent consultation were received with 13 in favour of the plans, including Oldbury-on-Severn Parish Council.

Cllr Matthew Riddle, leader of South Gloucestershire Council and councillor for the Severn Ward which includes Oldbury-on-Severn, said at the meeting that although he wasn’t in favour of widespread 20mph limits unlike “a nearby city” he supported the proposals.

“I think, around schools, having a 20mph is credible. The route up to the school is dangerous so I’m very supportive of the proposals.”