Chris Lofts

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Towcester Brook Ward Learn more

Towcester Lollipop Lady Saved – But For How Long?

by Chris Lofts on 29 July, 2012

Thanks again to local community fund raising the school crossing patrol on Vernon Road, Towcester has been saved for another year. Local businesses, residents, Towcester Town Council and County Councillor Chris Lofts all contributed generously to provide the funds.

Conservative controlled Northamptonshire County Council has refused to fund this vital school safety service. It has been left up to local people to fill the gap.

‘It is great news that the school crossing lady has been saved for another year, but it is a disgrace that local people should have to foot the bill for this vital service.’ Said Lib Dem Councillor Chris Lofts, ‘ I felt I had no choice but to help fund this service through my grant fund as the last thing I want to hear is that a child has been knocked down on the way to school’.

Councillor Lisa Samiotis, who heads the Save the Lollipop Lady committee commented, ‘Yet again we have struggled to save our lollipop lady, and we must
continue to fight to keep her. The conservative led county council are adamant they will not budge on this service cut. The crazy thing is that the county council is the only organisation that can legally employ patrol staff.

‘It’s a farce’ commented Lib Dem Councillor Martin Johns ‘if it wasn’t for the local community coming together on this who knows what could have happened. Each road traffic accident costs the taxpayer on average over £52,000, surely on this basis school crossing patrols are cost effective. Our five school crossing patrols in South Northants would cost the council less than £20,000 a year to run.’

‘Planned new developments at Wood Burcote will bring even more traffic onto Vernon Road and compromise road safety for children. Towcester really needs this vital crossing patrol and it should be protected for the future.’ explained Councillor Lisa Samiotis.

   Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>