Hundreds have signed a new petition demanding improved road safety near a school in Abbots Langley for children who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The petition was created amid increased safety concerns for students at Breakspeare School, located on Gallows Hill Lane. So far, it has received more than 300 signatures.
Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) has now agreed to review the petition, according to councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst (pictured second from left), the Leader of Three Rivers District Council.
Cllr Giles-Medhurst worked with Chris O’Donnell, a concerned grandparent of one of the students. Chris set up the petition to demand the review, hoping to add a patrol crossing, extend the 20mph zone to Hazelwood Lane, and add extra warning signs around the school.
Following a meeting with HCC which involved the headteacher of Breakspeare School Merja Paakkonen, Chris, and cllr Giles-Medhurst, county council officers agreed to review options such as a new school crossing patrol. The school is also securing additional banners to highlight the site to passing vehicles.
The area regularly has a policy community support officer present in order to ensure the road’s safety, according to cllr Giles-Medhurst.
Plans have been agreed to relocate the school to Croxley, allowing the site to offer increased capacity of 210 pupils, compared to the current capacity of 97 pupils.
However, cllr Giles-Medhurst told ABBOTSnews that the school is unlikely to leave Abbots Langley for “two to three years”.
He said: “There have been ongoing issues. The layout of the road down there is difficult; it’s a bit of a mess.
“The children need one-to-one accompaniment to cross the road, and a large number of them need to be dropped off.
“I wasn’t aware of the issue until Chris came to me at a surgery last year.
“I persuaded HCC that they needed to come to the site. There are a number of things we can do.”
HCC has been contacted for comment.
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