Hundreds Of Hove Parents Sign Petition For School Crossings

More than 600 people have signed a petition calling for a “proper pedestrian crossing” outside two Hove schools.

They are concerned that “a makeshift crossing point consisting of a coloured red square on the road cornered by four bollards” is “unsafe and not working”.

Few drivers seem to understand the red crossing where hundreds of children cross Hangleton Way every morning and afternoon outside West Blatchington Primary School and the King’s School.

And this week one of the ward councillors met a leading Green councillor to see the problems first hand and to discuss potential solutions.

Conservative councillor Dawn Barnett, who represents Hangleton and Knoll on Brighton and Hove City Council, hosted a visit by Green councillor Steve Davis, who co-chairs the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee.

Councillor Barnett is far from alone in having concerns about the crossing. West Blatchington’s acting head teacher Russell Brentnall said that drivers did not understand the red tarmac.

Mr Brentnall said:

“It’s not very clear in terms of a crossing. We’re not seeing anyone take any notice of it.

“We want a clear zebra crossing or a lollypop person. We have traffic backed up here. At least with a zebra, people will stop at the crossing. Most drivers don’t know what the red tarmac means.”

Traffic backs up most notably when the number 5 bus stops at the end of the road, when it can take five minutes before all the pupils have boarded.

Councillor Davis saw for himself how drivers ignored the red tarmac outside West Blatch as parents and children waited to cross the road at the end of the school day on Wednesday (23 February).

And, despite double yellow lines and bollards on the corner of Hardwick Road, Councillor Davis saw a car parked on double yellow lines blocking the way.

And he saw at least four drivers ignore families waiting to cross the road at the red markings.

To solve the problem, he wants to introduce another red-marked crossing by the King’s School, with “no loading” kerb markings to deter drivers from parking on the double yellow lines for “a few minutes”.

He said:

“Because the parents know they can park on the corner for 10 minutes, they do.

“What we can do is a city-wide traffic regulation order within 100 metres of every school. We could put two bands on the kerb. That’s my new plan.”

Councillor Davis said that there were similar problems at the six schools in his ward, Withdean, and he said that it was “chaos” every morning.

He urged Councillor Barnett to write to the Conservative Transport Minister Charlotte Vere, now Baroness Vere of Norbiton, who stood in Brighton Pavilion in the 2010 general election.

He would like Baroness Vere to push legislation to ban pavement and grass verge parking which the council has wanted for seven years.

Councillor Davis said:

“There are too many cars. I used to drive my son to Balfour every day and parked two or three roads away – and we walked.

“The issue is car ownership has doubled in the last 20 years, and the average size of a car has increased by 40 per cent. In the next 20 years, car ownership will increase by another 50 per cent.

“We’ve been begging Baroness Vere, the Conservative peer for transport, for pavement parking legislation for seven years.”

Councillor Davis criticised people making car journeys of less than two miles because he felt that they were often unnecessary although he did accept that some needed to drive.

Councillor Barnett suggested using her ward budget of £1,000 to cover the cost of yellow A-boards outside the primary school to urge drivers to keep the area clear.

She said:

“It is the parents who are coming here and parking there because they’re frightened to walk 10 yards.

“They won’t walk around the corner and up the street. If the children are run over, they’d soon shout about it.”

Councillor Barnett asked for a “proper pedestrian crossing” when the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee met on Thursday 3 February.

She said that a proper crossing was promised for when the King’s School opened on the site in 2019.

And she started the petition for a formal crossing. To sign, go to the Brighton and Hove Conservative Group’s website.