Hi, 

I bring to your attention today to an on-going situation that affects majority of pedestrians accessing the east side of Westdale Lane, the need for a suitable Pedestrian crossing to be installed to maintain the safety for those that cross this section of road especially at key times. (School times)

You see, I was totally oblivious to this situation until my daughter commenced school of Sept 2019, Haddon primary is located on Haddon Close just off the main road Westdale Lane. 

In the borough and surrounding communities we all recognise that school pick ups and drop off make the roads very busy especially near the school in fact Notts county council even have a dedicated team, safety team that has cameras on the vehicles to monitor parents/carers parking around these areas at the busier time to make it safe however I feel even they have neglected one crucial element to the location of Haddon school and how unsafe it is to cross, perhaps people park so close to avoid crossing the road? (My opinion) anyhow, 

So when my little girl started school living close to Haddon primary I thought walking to school would be a real benefit to teach and road safety (green cross code) and on a healthier note to her, me to get those extra steps in.  I was firstly alarmed at the manic rush, people walking, bikes, push bikes, road car users, busses the noises the pollution it was a real eye opener to me as I never really walked before in the borough... however the daunting realisation of crossing Westdale lane was looming, a pushchair in tow and a 4 year old holding my hand... the hill which can be a blind spot area as cars zoom down as it’s in-between the cameras on that stretch or zoom up so their cars get up the hill, I was panicking, over thinking all the possibilities of things which from my thoughts and wishes appearing from the sidewalk was a lovely lady, a road safety assistant to aid parents/carers and children to cross the road safety by her using a lollipop shaped stick and stopping traffic in its tracks, to my amazement I was saved, panic over. She was even still there to aid me across the road after my daughter was at school. I was quite looking forward to the afternoon walk at the success of the morning.  

However totally the opposite story in the afternoons, there is no lovely road safety assistant stopping the traffic as was in the mornings, there is no zebra crossing or pelican crossing or light controlled crossing it was literally you take your life into your own hands, with cars parked on both sides half on the pavement and half off, you have to physically step out into the road to face the traffic to cross when you find it safe to do so... there is build outs to the pavement at one point however you can literally stand there until the road is clear or a driver takes pity on you as it’s raining or just a kindhearted person stops to slow you to cross, however let’s face it that road is in constant use, it’s so busy! I do not even think the new GAR will ease the traffic on that road, the time the road was quiet was of recent being on lockdown, I actually think the tarmac has had a holiday! 

Back to my point... apologies....

I looked into this and NCC highways are responsible of such crossing and when I approached them they mentioned that they felt they had done all that was possible to that area, that they had limits..? however would pass my concerns over, so what we are left with is the best they can offer. I didn’t feel exactly happy with this so I looked further and concluded that actually the next best thing was already happening, the schools finishing times were staggered in the Borough, All Hallows’ primary and junior based at the end of westdale closer to the main road finishes at 3.20pm, there is a zebra crossing on westdale lane and on Main road in a gedling to allow parents and carers to cross safely with their children. The other school located on westdale Road is infact Westdale primary and junior school which finishes at 3.15pm, this has a light controlled crossing to assist with crossing the busy main road, our school Haddon primary and Junior finishes at 3.30pm, although no crossing I thought the staggered times actually aid the busy road at key times and eases the flow of traffic on this road. So I left the issue as lockdown commenced... which actually didn’t help further as going out for local walks exploring the borough this only fuelled the need for a crossing on this stretch of road. 

Recently I also received a letter from the head principal at Haddon school announcing a proposal of school time changes, for the school to finish at 3.15pm rather than 3.30pm, now I do agree with the rationale for, however I feel that the issue of the road still has not been addressed and more so with the time of finish proposed likely to be agreed within the trust academy it will coincide with other local schools finishing to which at that time of the day crossing the road with inadequate safety measures in place will be like attending the Pamplona bull run. 

The road safety assistant will not always be there, they have struggled to find alternative cover for years I’m lead to believe in the afternoons, currently there are 9 locations within Nottingham needing a ‘lollipop’ assistant plus relief cover. The local authority have a responsibility to make roads safe for pedestrians to use (taken from ‘Brake’ the road safety charity) in this instance this is not enough nor at least satisfactory, allow me to aid you to visualise Westdale Lane,  Looking at the stretch of Westdale lane where the library is, there is a crossing, light controlled crossing outside what was Hazel Hurst school which has now closed and has been replaced with ‘new beginnings nursery, the next down is westdale lane school of which again has a light controlled crossing, then moving down there is a zebra crossing to allow access to co-op store, and then nothing at all until priory road which is where All Hallows’ is located, I ask why does the east of westdale lane get neglected? Do our children not matter? Was it because previously Haddon school was a state run school which was at the bottom of the pot when money is concerned? Who classed this area to not warrant a crossing? It’s the worst part with the hill! Cars dodging pot holes, speeding in-between cameras, The crossing is not adequate there is no patrol person on the afternoon to support parents/carers to safely cross the road with their children at any age. 

I hope my voice is one of many and with your support if you kindly sign this petition to be heard to make a change, a change for all, a safe change.

Thank you.