Trafford town hall plan to scrap lollipop patrols

Council bosses have proposed to cut all lollipop men and women in the Trafford area unless the schools pay for them.

The conservatives want to save £350,000 a year by cutting the service in the borough as they say the patrol is ‘not sustainable’.

Opposition Labour Councillor Mike Freeman has set up a petition to stop the move and to date, he has over 1200 signatures.

He said: “You can’t understate the value of school – crossing patrols in Trafford.

“Our children are safer going to and from school. Road safety is the responsibility of our council.

“And at the end of the day, no amount of money or saving money is worth the life of a child.”

Freeman is against the proposal, as a crossing patrol warden has previously been knocked down by a vehicle at that very junction.

Jane Baugh, shadow executive member for children’s services, has stated that the Schools and Early Years Finance Regulations 2014, says school cash must not use DSG cash on traffic management measures.

However, Town hall bosses say they’re exploring different avenues of funding.

Amy Whyte, a parent of three children who use the crossing to get to school, is concerned about her children’s safety: “There’s hundreds of children crossing there a day.

“The drivers regularly come through the red light and block the junction, so the lollipop man has to physically stand in the way of lorries and cars, to get the children across the road.”

Whyte also worries about the older children’s independence: “My eldest is in year 5 and he’s just now starting to get that independence of walking home by himself.

“And if he had to cross this junction without a lollipop man there is absolutely no way I’d let him do it.”

In February last year the council scrapped 31 of 97 of the boroughs patrols.

They suffered backlash from parents, schools and opposition leaders and only cut a third of what they wanted to.

A protest is taking place next Friday December 16 to save the local patrol. It starts at 8:30am with members of the community heading the event.

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