Cadland Primary gets access makeover

Thursday 25 October 2012

Walking to school can save money, boost brain power and kickstart a healthy lifestyle but children and parents can be discouraged if access is difficult.

Cadland Primary School, Holbury is set to benefit from improved access to and from the main school gate and into the school building. The three-week programme of work, starting at the end of October, is a project that aims to improve pupil safety at the school gate and encourage walking to school instead of travelling by car, so increasing levels of physical activity for pupils.

The work will improve the access to and from the school in three ways

• The existing front gate and adjoining high section of brick wall will be replaced with a new single-gate access and set of railings. This will improve visibility for both pedestrians and drivers around the school entrance
• An additional single gate, a new hard-surfaced footpath, dropped kerbs and tactile paving will also be built. This will provide better, safer school access for those who live on the new housing development, especially anyone with impaired mobility or pushing a buggy
• A raised table crossing will be constructed across the access road to the school and the new housing development. This will encourage reduced vehicle speeds outside the entrance to the school and provide a crossing, all on the same level, linking the school entrance to the footpaths leading into the nearby housing areas

Councillor Mel Kendal, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Environment and Transport, said:

"It is important that children can travel to and from school safely because a daily walk to school is a great opportunity for children and their parents or carers to get regular exercise. We have worked closely with the school in developing this scheme, which will contribute to meeting some aims of the school travel plan. We appreciate that works of this nature will cause some temporary inconvenience to children and their parents but we will do all we can to keep disruption to a minimum. I hope that once the works are complete more children will take advantage of all the good that walking to school daily can bring."

• Cadland Primary gets access makeover

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