Calls for more pedestrian crossings in Cheltenham after pupil run over

There are growing calls for more pedestrian crossings in Cheltenham after a pupil was run over near her school.

The student's leg was run over in Warden Hill Road at the end of last year.

Cllr Iain Dobbie said he has been campaigning for a crossing there for years.

He said: “What happened towards the end of last year was that a pupil from Bournside got run over right outside the school on Warden Hill Road.

“She fell in one direction and the car drove over her leg and broke it. If she had fallen differently it could have driven over her skull and killed her.

“In Warden Hill, we have the busiest campus in the whole of the county. We have the largest comprehensive in Bournside on the same campus as two special needs schools, Belmont and Bettridge.

“For at least five years, myself and Cllr Oliver have been calling for a crossing at this point to enable children, their parents and others to get safely to these three schools.

"It’s particularly important when it comes to students with special needs.”

Civic leaders in the town say the chronic shortfall in funding for highways has created a public safety crisis in Gloucestershire.

Cheltenham Borough Council passed a motion earlier this week which calls on Gloucestershire County Council to put preventing harm at the heart of its funding policy for roads.

'We have to speak out'

Cllr Alisha Lewis, who put forward the motion, said she often meets a lot of families who are concerned about the lack of designated crossings for pedestrians.

She has been told by school children that they worry about getting hit by a car on their walk to and from school.

She said: “It’s important that we, as a council, take this seriously. Fundamentally, when Gloucestershire County Council doesn’t act and doesn’t treat it with the sincerity and importance it deserves we have to speak out.

Cheltenham Borough Council estimates that the cost of crossings needed in the town ranges between £75,000 and £100,000 for their installation - and this cannot be met by the allowances given to county councillors to resolve highways issues in their areas.

They have called for a cross-council meeting between senior highways officers and the relevant cabinet member and Cheltenham Borough and County Councillors in wards with particular road crossing concerns.

This is with a view to developing a working plan for delivering the additional road crossings Cheltenham needs by the end of 2024.