Fears over plans to expand School Streets scheme

Transcript

00:00It's a scheme that's been stopping parents dropping children off around some schools

00:05for most of this year.

00:07Medway Council now want to extend the scheme to nine further areas.

00:11A school street could soon be coming to cannon close, but parents worry their children will

00:17now be forced onto this busy main road.

00:21The grim reality is that if a child gets hit at 30-40mph on Maidstone Road, which is probable

00:27per all of the accidents that have occurred and all of the speeding offences that have

00:30occurred on that road, they're very, very, very unlikely to survive.

00:34In contrast, if a child gets hit at 10-20mph in Cannon Close, they're much more likely

00:39to survive.

00:40So compared to Maidstone Road, Cannon Close is actually somewhat of a safe haven for these

00:44small kids.

00:47Maidstone Road has several schools in its vicinity and was revealed to be in the top

00:5120 stretches for speeding offences in Kent.

00:54If people can't park in our roads, which is what they do at the moment, relatively

00:58safely, relatively courteously, they will move to busier roads such as Maidstone Road,

01:04which is a major road, speeding traffic and is already very congested.

01:09Just down the road is King's School, where a member of staff told a scrutiny committee

01:14they support traffic-free zones, but it just doesn't work in their area.

01:20As we know, it's a very major road.

01:22It has raised pavements, which have steps going up to them, and it has stepped pavements

01:28on the other side.

01:29So therefore, kids and parents crossing that road is going to be very dangerous, we think.

01:35What's your fear?

01:38Fatalities or accidents are going to happen.

01:41It was the Conservatives that called in the roll-out of school streets over concerns about

01:45public support.

01:47I presented a petition to full council, signed by 100 residents in the area around Fairview

01:53Primary School, and that wasn't even referenced.

01:56So they were our primary concerns.

01:58As I said in the meeting, I think good policies made on evidence, bad policies made on feelings,

02:03and we had an awful lot of feelings.

02:05The call-in meant any progress on the scheme had been stalled, but the opposition's motion

02:09failed, meaning work and proposals will now continue.

02:14The speakers tonight have been amazing.

02:18The stories that you've come and told about the personal problem you have with your own

02:24schemes I'm sure has been listened to tonight, and it will be listened to again.

02:31You've got to feed into that consultation.

02:34It's expected to go to consultation in the first half of next year.

02:39Gabriel Morris, in Medway.