Stanford school pupils shine a light on traffic troubles

A group of pupils at Stanford Junior and Infant School are working hard to raise awareness of the dangers they face on their daily commute.

Pupils at the Cooper Lane school in Laceby have identified key problem areas including narrow lanes, limited visibility and congestion caused by parking.

The highways and transport team at EQUANS has been working with the school to create a School Travel Plan, including a roadmap of actions to take to improve safety concerns.

Councillor Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for environment and transport, said: “It is wonderful to see this school and its pupils working to make things better in their community.

“People parking near the school entrances adds an unnecessary danger that these children should not have to face in order to access education. Alternative parking is available just a short walk away in the village.”

Lani Lamming, capital project assistant at EQUANS, said: “Having spoken with the school and its students, it became clear that road safety is a major issue for pupils, especially with people parking and manoeuvring outside of the school.

“We are currently working with the pupils to provide them with resources to create a road safety leaflet to spread awareness of the issues. This will be given to all new starters at the school to help their parents understand how they can alleviate the problems and make the journey safer for everyone.”

As part of this work, a new cycling infrastructure has also been installed within the school to provide safer parking for bicycles and scooters.

Students at the school have also been given hi vis vests to wear when travelling around the village.  

Leona Hackfath, headteacher at Stanford Junior and Infant School, said: “I couldn’t be more proud of the pupils involved in this project. They have really used this opportunity to highlight the dangers they see everyday and want to do something positive to make things better for future pupils, and the whole village. We really appreciate the support from the council and EQUANS, Governors and parents/carers in helping us too.”