‘I’m cross about Holy Cross’

I’m cross about Holy Cross – and that’s why we need to ditch the half million for Filton aerospace museum and spend it on safer routes to schools instead

At Holy Cross school in my ward there have been three traffic-related incidents in recent months. The school tells me there is a near miss on most days. The site is an ‘accident waiting to happen’. 

It is this, and many near misses for school children across Bristol which has led to the Green Party councillors to submit an amendment to the council budget debate to reallocate the half million pounds proposed for South Gloucestershire museum for Concorde.

Instead, we have proposed that the money be spent on improving safety around schools. Or on routes to schools.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a particular problem with spending money on museums. I chaired a ‘scrutiny inquiry’ day into the importance of culture in Bristol, so I fully understand the value of Bristol’s ‘cultural offer’.

I do however think it vital that we make routes to schools as safe as possible and sadly there is not enough money in local authority budgets at the moment to do both. 

Holy Cross is the school on Dean Lane in Bedminster. Its main entrance is tucked into the corner of two right-angled bends as Dean Lane wriggles around from Coronation Road to the bottom of North St.

I was first contacted by the school a couple of months ago about problems or concerns to do with the amount and speed of traffic – mainly at school drop-in and drop-off time, but also other times of the day.

The problems include: 

• People crossing the road just around the right angled bend then cross over Dean Lane to either Alpha or Acramans Road – this is a major walking and cycling route into town (for people going over Gaol Ferry Bridge).

• The narrowness of the pavement – I have seen people with buggies go round the 90 degree bend from the North St end, and then pull out into the road (because of the handily placed street light and telegraph pole), pray they don’t get hit by a car coming round the corner. The pavement is too narrow all the way down to the swimming pool, really. 

• Parents inconsiderately parking on the zig-zag lines outside the school to let their kids out. This leads to other cars (which go too quickly around the corner) veering to the wrong side of the road and then around the other 90 degree bend. Cars also do three point turns around the site of the school. It all adds up to additional hazards for both pedestrians and cyclists.

In terms of getting an engineered solution, the problems are with the Highways department. They are seriously under-resourced. Local traffic projects have been devolved to neighbourhood partnerships, and we were asked a couple of years back to put in a list of three projects for three years. Lack of funds makes it hard to get new, suddenly urgent schemes on anyone’s list. 

To sum up, local communities have the ideas, we have the need, but it is extremely difficult to make things happen without the sort of extra funding as proposed in the Green amendment.

Holy Cross is one of four schools in the Southville ward. Over the last year, I have been contacted by people with problems at two of the others. Clanage Road – en route to Bower Ashton and the Upton Road site of Ashton Gate school. Three schools in one ward, each with an issue. I could probably list several other roads within the ward where other issues exist. There are 35 wards in all. All will have their own “accidents waiting to happen”. 

For example my Bishopston councillor colleagues Tim Malnick and Daniella Radice tell me ‘Brunel Field school in Bishopston and Ashley Down has reported some near misses due to cars mounting the pavement while parents walk their children to school and push buggies. Bishop Road parents express regular concern about dangers created by cars parked on double yellow lines around the school during drop off time.’ 

I’d add at this point that 80% of accidents to children take place away from schools, so the need is not just around the school itself but on routes children will take to and from school.

Hence the budget amendment which moves money from the aerospace museum in South Glos to improving safe school routes in Bristol. I accept that half a million pounds doesn’t fix it . But it helps. I repeat, I don’t have an issue with having a museum but I simply regard making these routes safe as just too important.

To sign the petition, visit www.epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/community/petition/3470

Charlie Bolton is the Green Party councillor for Southville

Do you have an issue that you want to get off your chest? Email martin@bristol247.com