Year 5 Active Travel Ambassadors from St Michael’s Primary School met with Grant Shapps and Local County Councillor Tony Kingsbury to discuss road safety outside of their school.
St Michael’s School’s Year 5 Active Travel Ambassadors made the most of the opportunity to meet with Grant and Tony to discuss their concerns about the speed and busyness of the B197 as it passes by their school in Woolmer Green, causing a danger to pupils, teachers and parents alike.
Following a vivid portrayal of a near-miss incident involving one of their teachers, the pupils voiced how worried they were about the road and highlighted projects such as their “Be Bright, Be Seen” campaign to raise awareness about road safety.
After the discussion, Grant and Tony were taken by pupils to see the road and the safety issues it presents to the school.
Following the visit, Headteacher Jan Martin commented that:
“'The children at St Michael's were very excited to have a visit from Grant Shapps. Our Year 5 Active Travel Ambassadors outlined their concerns about the road outside our school. Mr. Shapps agreed with them that 40mph past our school was very dangerous and listened to the children voicing their opinions. Following this, Mr. Shapps came onto the playground to look at some new playtime equipment being installed and to say hello to other pupils.”
Hertfordshire County Council have previously conducted a public consultation about making the roads around the schools safer. However, to push this issue along further, Grant is working with Tony to hold another consultation on the matter later this year. The hope is to bring a new 30mph speed limit on the stretch of road nearest to the primary school and to encourage both walking and cycling options.
Grant commented on the issue saying that he “ recognise[s] that the B197 has been a real concern for the St. Michael’s community for quite some time and chatting to the school’s passionate and articulate Travel Ambassadors it is even clearer that we need to improve the situation.
Tony and I have been pushing for a reduction in the speed limit on the road for a number of years, and we still are. Everything possible should be done to minimise risk to road users and people walking to and from the school.”
Grant is keen to know what the Woolmer Green community think about the B197 and believes that the more people who demonstrate their feelings on the issue, the stronger the case to improve the road’s safety becomes. Therefore, he is encourage residents and the school community to fill out his survey on the road: www.shapps.com/b197speedlimit