 It has been in place since 1996, a couple of years after the primary school relocated to its present site on School Lane. Paul Clevett currently undertakes this duty and is paid £1,500 a year by East Sussex County Council. His job is now under threat as the Council seeks to cut costs wherever it can.
More importantly, safety to children crossing in the morning and after school will be seriously compromised if this cut goes ahead. According to statistics, the installation of a Zebra crossing will increase safety by 25 times. Also, according to a Council formula, the number of unaccompanied children crossing is now 20% of what it should be to “justify” having Paul there to help them. I suppose that if it is 25% safer now than it would have been in the past without Paul, then there would be 25% less children being injured – hypothetically of course. The trouble is that a hypothesis refers to "a provisional idea whose merit needs evaluation" (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis). Should we really put children’s safety at risk just to evaluate a statistic especially when the money involved is relatively small? I think the Parish Council have done well to install the new safety measures along Hartfield Road. However, my own experience is that drivers are not paying much attention to the new features. It is true to say that some drivers will always be reckless but it will take time for others to change their behaviours. Without Paul, there will be an increased risk, at least for some time to come.
The school is being proactive about trying to persuade the Council to retain the crossing patrol. Cllr. Whetstone organised a parents petition and this raised the profile of the issue to the main Council. I believe that the Council Transport officials are supporting the retention of the patrol as well. The decision now rests with the lead member for Transport, Cllr. Matthew Lock which will happen on 26 March. The school is now galvanising parents to write to him directly appealing for a decision to keep the crossing patrol. To be fair to the Council, they are being squeezed financially and we would all prefer not to have them raise local taxes to cover shortfalls. But children’s safety should come above all else and I can see more cars being used if the patrol disappears. Cars equate with pollution and less exercise. Green issues and obesity are very topical issues now with long term costs which would certainly outweigh the relatively small cost of paying Paul to continue to provide an excellent public service. This is a community issue and I am asking any resident of Forest Row to support the school and appeal for common sense as opposed to criteria, formulae, statistics and hypotheses. Please help Paul keep his job and keep our children really safe!
Write or send an email to Cllr Lock now! Thank you.
Councillor Matthew Lock
Lead Member for Transport and Environment
East Sussex County Council
County Hall
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 1VE
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Great article, only takes one fatality to put the cost into perspective!!!!!! The luminous crossing guard is far more visible and he is there, not only stop cars but also, to guide children across correctly when it's safe to do so! An excellent and really balanced article... At around 230 on the roll it is less than £7/year/child. Would parents pay rather than see the service cut or increase council tax? I am sure some parents would be willing to pay although there is a principle her and the service is used by more than just the school children. I expect that the Council's aim is to get other organisations/individuals to make a contribution to the cost rather than pay 100%. |
