School route is a killer, trade park firms warn
Saturday 21st August 2010, 2:30PM BST.
Ellie Rihoy, 10, with Intersurgical managing director Mark Levrier in the company’s car park. He fears an accident with pupils walking to Baubigny Schools cutting through the industrial estate and his car park to reach the green lane to The Bowl. Ellie’s father manages the Plumb Center and is adamant she will not be using the route. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 1012186)
CHILDREN will be tempted to risk their lives by using a new walk to school, businesses on a busy industrial estate are warning.
With just days to go before the start of the new term, companies on the Pitronnerie Road trade park say they fear many Baubigny Schools pupils will take a short-cut across their land to reach the start of the newly developed vinery pathway.
They said it would only be a matter of time before someone got killed.
Road safety campaigners Living Streets, who are due to officially open the new path on 2 September, yesterday maintained the scheme was safe.
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The whole route is pointless and not needed. How are children getting to the school currently? Oh yeah, they have a pavement… the whole system that environment came up with for the new St Sampsons school is stupid and not very well designed.
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Oh dear! I’m not a great fan of the do-gooders at Living Street but even I’m finding myself feeling a little sorry for them. Here they are trying to make kids lives a little safer and yet we hear nothing but complaints and warnings of potential hazards. First we’re told it is a potential mugging hotspot, now we hear of another potential death trap.
I’ve got to say this latest issue is not the fault of Living Streets. They can hardly be blamed if kids are daft enough to take a short cut through an industrial estate. Might I suggest that parents should perhaps be teaching their children that wandering through busy industrial areas is possibly not the cleverest thing to do? If they choose not to heed that advice then, tragic though it will be, one can’t help but think that you make your bed you lie in it. I appreciate we should try to make things safe but you can’t legislate for stupidity and common sense has to kick in somewhere.
Despite my new found sympathy for Living Streets I do think that GG has a point. There are already pavements in place around the school allowing the kids to walk there safely. Compare that to Les Beaucamps where (if memory serves) there are no pavements on the main road and one has to wonder whether there was any point making this new walkway in the first place.
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As I understand it, no child will be obliged to take advantage of a route which, nevertheless, many youngsters will regard as a simple and effective short-cut to and from Les Nicolles schools.
On the other hand, it is entirely understandable that some landowners might wish to robustly protect what they may regard as their own vested interests. To the extent that such vested interests are able to secure the support of other “responsible” voices during the August “silly season”, the local media can hardly be condemmed for seeking to give the walking route story “legs”. (Apologies for the pun!)
More surprising in my view are the somewhat implausible obstacles some departments of the States have been persuaded to deploy in order to attempt to block this simple initiative.
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