Councillors in Kingswood are celebrating after a council committee agreed to allocate funding for a zebra crossing outside a sheltered housing scheme.
Blackhorse Court on Blackhorse Road provides supported living for around 19 people with disabilities or learning difficulties. Residents had approached their local councillors about two years ago to see if South Gloucestershire Council would build a zebra crossing across Blackhorse Road as they had found it increasingly difficult to cross this busy road.
Local councillors Roger Coales, Andy Perkins and Pat Rooney (Labour, Woodstock) explained what followed:
“We held an initial site meeting with an official from the Council’s Highways department who identified a suitable location for a zebra crossing. Our problem was that there was no obvious source of funding through the normal Council routes.”
The councillors asked that a scheme be included as a possible idea for funding by a local council committee – the Chase Area Forum – who have a small annual budget of £50,000 for road safety schemes that would otherwise not qualify for normal council funding.
The councillors added:
“We took the case of Blackhorse Court residents to the Area Forum and persuaded enough of our colleagues to back their cause. The residents had also taken the trouble to write to the committee to make their case and we think that helped persuade enough of them. Of course, this crossing will be of benefit to all residents and also students on their way to John Cabot Academy who have to cross this extremely busy one-way road. Sadly, Conservative councillors on the committee refused to back our residents and voted against.”
The councillors expect that work on the crossing will be completed before April 2012.
Source: Woodstock Labour Councillors
