Fight for safe crossing outside Wales Primary continues

Parents of children at Wales Primary School say a zebra crossing is urgently needed on the busy road outside the entrance.

A long-awaited traffic survey concluded the school did not meet the criteria, but the authority said its vacant school crossing patrol post — which has been empty since June — could soon be filled.

Donna Reddish (37), from Kiveton Park has an eight-year-old daughter at the school and said the school was situated on a very busy 30mph main road on a blind bend.

She said: “The nearest crossing is in Kiveton near to the high school, around half a mile away.

“All the schools in our area have a zebra crossing, the nearest one, Kiveton Infant school, has a crossing and patrol, we have nothing.”

Donna organised for parents to undertake their own traffic survey in October from 8am to 6pm which revealed there were 7,400 vehicles and 1,058 pedestrians with an average of 12 vehicles per minute.

The council carried out its own independent survey a month ago.

David Burton, Rotherham Borough Council’s director of Streetpride, said: “The results of the survey have not met the qualifying criteria so at this stage we are not able to move forward with the request.

“However, we are happy to meet with those raising concerns to discuss the survey and consider the results.”

Mr Burton said he hoped the crossing patrol post would soon be filled.

But Donna said parents were still angry, especially when the Wales Parish Council newsletter revealed the crossing outside Kiveton Park Infants was earmarked for refurbishment

She has collected 500 paper signatures and is aiming to set an online petition up and a protest.

“We might blockade the road until they do something,” Donna added.

Fellow parent Charlotte Wadskjaer Kay said: “I am so angry, over 5,000 cars alone past that school and most not within the speed limit, yet every single school or supermarket in our surrounding villages have a crossing.

“They don’t want to spend the money that is all there is to it.”

Borough councillor Dominic Beck said he had not given up hope and believed the school could meet the “exceptional circumstances and mitigating factors” mentioned in the crossing criteria.