PARENTS should leave the car at home and do more to encourage their children to walk to school.
That’s the verdict of County Councillor Dr Ken Pollock (Con, Tenbury) Worcestershire’s cabinet member with responsibility for economy, skills and infrastructure.
“I would recommend that parents should not consider giving their children lifts to school,” he said, before adding: “I would encourage them to have more faith in the safety of their children and let them walk.”
His comments came in response to issues raised by Coun Graham Vickery (Lab, Redditch North) at Thursday’s full council meeting over the county’s local transport plan (LTP), which is currently out for consultation.
Coun Vickery had described the LTP as little more than tweaking, and that while Redditch New Town was well catered for in terms of roads, like many places in Worcestershire it also had large parts of 19th and early 20th residential areas which struggled to cope with modern day traffic.
He cited parking near schools and in residential areas and excessive speed around housing estates as well as the need for ‘a decent bus network’ and called for a plan to address these issues.
Coun Dr Pollack admitted there were no proposals for wholesale road building before adding: “If there is no place for parking off the street you will park on the street but on the other hand this will make them safer because they will be narrower and people will go slower.”
On the subject of parking around schools he said it was a problem nationwide and that parents should instead let their children walk.
Residents can have their say at a pop-up event in the Kingfisher Shopping Cnetre on Thursday, January 26 from 2pm to 4pm and the consultation itself – available at http://bit.ly/2jbiPBM .
The consultation runs until March 17, 2017.
