Forum Topic

School Crossing Patrols

Browsing through the proposed savings/cuts that Hounslow Council intend introducing is the School Crossing Patrols or the Lolly pop Men and Women unless the schools fund them themselves in the futureAm I alone in thinking that this is completely bonkers and putting the children of the Borough at risk of injury and death just to supposedly save 160k a year?Oh how I would love to find alternative savings such as the numerous Mayors luncheons and outrageous expense claims for travelling to events and how about getting the recycling and waste control back to being financially stable rather then the current millions being squandered with no accountability?

Paul Fisher ● 3409d11 Comments

As I understand it one local apologist for the council has said that the cost for school crossing patrols has been passed to schools to decide whether or not they want to fund them. All they do is blame the government for everything, and whilst that is a big factor, why constantly bleat about keeping the council tax down? We all understand that services need to be paid for so consideration should be given to some increase in council tax.

Vanessa Smith ● 3403d

School crossing patrols were cut in Ealing in April 2015.

Ian Wingfield ● 3404d

A truly appalling state of affairs which should never have been tolerated, just who do these people think they are?

Vanessa Smith ● 3407d

The last Director of Environment Mike Smith often use to delete my e-mails without reading them when I was a councillor so that was the standard set for his team and I would not be surprised if the practise still continues today by some officersWhen I confronted him he use to just shrug his shoulders and basically tell me was untouchable and was backed up by the then Chief Executive Mark Gilks

Paul Fisher ● 3408d

Phil, I think it would always come back to no roads should be closed but hey ho none of this really matters, does it?My neighbour has recently received an email from within saying that the Councils outlook email account is set up with a junk mail box, into which residents comments and complaints end up.And yes, the box labelled 'junk mail' is actually considered as junk so the mail is not treated as importantly as the mail which hits the 'in box' so is not read before being expectedly, deleted.It is perfectly unreasonable of us to expect the junk mail letters to be copied over into the IN box or for the IT people to delete the junk mail box.  What a giggle sifting through the comments of the plebs and deciding which can be addressed or counted and which stay in the junk mail, to be ignored.

Sarah Felstead ● 3408d

Can you suggest an alternative?  By which I mean one in which all the residents can be persuaded to join the party and work for the councillor's reselection?

Phil Andrews ● 3408d

Twickenham road and London road plus all the schools in that area now bear the brunt of the extra traffic from Church street.  The cars have not gone away because of the road closure.  If there is an option of closing a road, maybe it should be up for discussion as to which road that should be.  It would not be Church street.

Sarah Felstead ● 3408d

I've been recently concerned about this issue too. The schools in Twickenham Road have no wardens for the crossings. The caretaker of Smallberry Green School used to man the crossing but no longer.JL

Jim Linwood ● 3409d

I have often thought how ironical it is, and I see this on my way to work some days, that a mum picking her kids up from school and driving a Chelsea tractor is in the most dangerous vehicle to be doing that, as the bonnet is high enough not to be able to see a child who may have stepped into the road and is also high enough to do that child maximum damage.

Keith Iddon ● 3409d

Incredible.  The lollipop people help all pedestrians to cross the road and with the Church street closure they should be recruiting to staff the walk to school routes now badly affected by the closure.I must say the South street lady is very badly needed with the cars all shooting through or accelerating in bursts because they have been stuck in the jam.  Where she used to stand she was opposite 2 parking bays which her customers had to squeeze between, many of her customers were head height to the bumpers.  I always thought somebody had ignored her job when they planned the street bays.

Sarah Felstead ● 3409d

Certainly these are needed in South St.- they are instrumental in piling more and more traffic on to a relatively small road because of their stupid insistence on closing Church St. and then do something like this!

Vanessa Smith ● 3409d