Agenda and minutes

None.

Councillor Burrows explained to the children of Glebe Primary School, that usually petition hearings took place at the Council offices, based in the Civic Centre in Uxbridge.  It was further explained that petition hearings usually took place in the evening; however, as this petition was instigated by a pupil who attended Glebe Primary School he felt it was practical to hear the petition at the school to give pupils the opportunity to put forward their concerns directly.  The meeting was therefore heard in a public setting.

Councillor Burrows introduced himself as the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling and explained to the pupils of Glebe Primary School of the responsibility his role entailed.

Pupils from the School Council, along with the lead petitioner, Lily Swift, welcomed Cllr Burrows to their school.  They explained that Members of the School Council had been chosen in a similar way to how the community voted for politicians.  They had put together a PowerPoint presentation to present their case for a zebra crossing to be installed outside their school.  The concerns and suggestions from pupils at Glebe Primary School included the following:

·         A zebra crossing was important.

·         Children were worried about safety.

·         The school had recently increased in size.

·         They wanted the school to be a safer place.

·         One child hurt, would be one child too much.

·         Cars would not park so close if there was a zebra crossing.

·         They did not want any child to have an accident.

·         Over 50 signatures were gained, supporting the petition.

·         A lollypop (School Crossing Patrol Officer) lady/man would also help.

Pupils from the school Council also highlighted what they and the school had done to improve road safety outside the school:

·         Pupils had carried out their own zig-zag campaign, in which pupils had produced a poster to highlight to drivers that the zig-zag markings were not for parking on.  Some pupils had promoted this campaign outside the school during picking up and dropping off times.

·         Written letters from the pupils and parents had also been produced.

·         Two pupils were dedicated Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO's) and had worked with the Council's School Travel Plan Team to look at ways to improve road safety when travelling to and from school.

·         Children had been reminded to Stop, Look and Listen when crossing the road.

·         The school's motto was ' We can and we will'.

The Cabinet Member, Cllr Keith Burrows, listened to the concerns and responded to the points raised.  Cllr Burrows was impressed with the presentation put together by pupils and highlighted that adults who attended his meetings did not present their concerns in such an efficient manner as pupils had done.

Cllr Burrows explained that officers had produced a report outlining details of the petition and had developed recommendations as a result of the petition being received.  Cllr Burrows informed pupils and teachers present that he was going to change the recommendations.  Cllr Burrows thanked Glebe Primary School, Members of the School Council, the Junior Road Safety Officers and ultimately the lead petitioner, Lily Swift.

Resolved - Meeting with Petitioners, that the Cabinet Member:

1.    Considered petitioners concerns with pupils' safety when crossing the road on their journey towards and away from Glebe Primary School;

2.    Instructed officers to undertake necessary road safety investigation to install a crossing on Sussex Road as requested by the children of Glebe Primary School;

3.    Asked officers to undertake classified traffic, volume and speed surveys before and after the installation of a zebra crossing.