Wednesday 13 November 2013

Road safety in Old Buckenham

Concerns over children's safety

Local mum, Sadie Burton, has become increasingly concerned about the safety of school children crossing the B1077 at Rod Ally Pond. She has both written to the Parish Council and attended the recent Parish Council meeting to voice her worries. Mrs Burton said in her letter:
Children of high school age walking from the Hargham Road direction cross on the corner near Rod Alley pond. Every morning they wait as streams of traffic flow past, just waiting for a gap to cross. Occasionally a car will stop to allow them over. Yet, with traffic approaching from several other directions, this in itself is adding to their danger as someone else may not stop. I feel it is only a matter of time before a child is knocked down.
I also observe (having just returned to the village having lived abroad for four years) that a lollipop lady is no longer in operation. Crazy! Children of primary school age - often alone - again cross this busy road yet further down near the Gamekeeper.
I find it extremely worrying that the county and parish council have not addressed this situation earlier. Or does a child have to be injured of worse killed before the said authorities sit up and take notice?
I will also add that the proposed relocation of Chapel Road school will only serve to add to this already dangerous situation.
A zebra crossing/press button crossing place and the reinstatement of a crossing patrol is surely needed to ensure the safety of our village’s school children."
There is already a community Speedwatch group in Old Buckenham who help reduce speed by alerting the police to speeding motorists but their activities are limited as more volunteers are needed so that the number of check sessions can be increased. The Parish Council has agreed to formulate a request for the adoption of a number of road safety measures.
However, there is little chance of success unless pressure can be brought to bear at county level. This needs your help.
If Old Buckenham road safety concerns you, please do some or all of the following:
1. Add a comment on this blog ('post a comment' button is at the end of this post on the left hand side).
2. Send your contact details to Steve Milner (stevemilner1@gmail.com) along with your thoughts and ideas. These can then be distilled into a plan to apply pressure for action to be taken.
3. Volunteer for Community SpeedWatch by contacting Steve Milner (stevemilner1@gmail.com).
The bigger the voice, the louder the shout. Let’s make Old Buckenham roads safer



6 comments:

steveM said...

I was under the impression that the crossing situation was bad but not this bad. gives you goose bumps

Lots of letters to councillors (county) and highways needed

SteveM

SteveM said...

I am hearing that people are having problems leaing comments
Heres how I manage it
Click on comment at the end of the blog
Type your comment in the box under "leave your comment"
when finished, scroll down to where it says prove you are not a robot
enter the number and text, no spaces, case specific. If you cannot read it click on the circle arrow (refresh)
choose an identity
click publish
this will be sent to ron for checking, he will then post.
good luck

Sade said...

Scary pictures. Please send your comments in to add weight to our argument. Thanks. Sadie Burton.

Anonymous said...

Friday 15th - just want to mention that I just walked home with my daughter from school and witnessed three year 8 girls being narrowly missed by a land rover as the rushed to cross the road at rod alley pond. It would appear the driver didn't want to slow down. Makes me so angry !!!

SteveM said...

Another near miss. We need to keep these stories rolling in. They all add weight to our arguments.
Steve

Unknown said...

This situation is crazy. The children have to cross this read a a really busy time of day. Many people, including the children, are in a rush. The children take risks or are not paying as much attention as they should. Bad drivers are going to fast, stressed drivers are making bad decisions.

Really it is inevitable what is going to happen. I'm not trying to be dramatic. Anybody with an ounce of common sense who stands and watches this junction for 10 minutes can see it for themselves.

Let's get this fixed and get it fixed as soon a possible.