Under the Tory Mayor, Croydon axed six lollipop patrols outside primary schools last year in a cost-cutting measure. Yet now, according to Croydon East MP Natasha Irons, the council is sitting on a pot of grant money while children’s lives are at risk in Forestdale
Signing up: parents and staff at Forestdale Primary are signing a petition to get the council to act over Featherbed Lane
A Croydon MP has launched a campaign to make Featherbed Lane safer, following serious concerns raised by families with children attending nearby primary schools.
Natasha Irons, the Labour MP for Croydon East, took up her constituents’ complaints with Croydon Council last year. But after months without any action from the Town Hall, and tens of thousands of pounds sitting in the council’s road safety budget untouched, the MP is now backing a public petition calling for a road safety review and a new, safer crossing.
Any council safety review of Featherbed Lane will need to do a better job than the perfunctory, lip-service reports compiled for the council and used to justify the axing of school lollipop patrols at six primaries last year.
Those cuts to measures intended to make children’s journeys to school safer were made to save £58,000 a year, at a council which last year posted a £30million overspend, and where the Tory Mayor pays himself a salary of £84,000.
And Mayor Jason Perry ought to have a real understanding of the issues with speeding vehicles along Featherbed Lane, as that’s where he used to live with his family before he bought the large £1.4million mansion near Lloyd Park in 2021.
Speed track: vehicles often exceed the uneforced speed limit on Featherbed Lane
Featherbed Lane is a country road that runs from Addington to the extreme southern edge of the borough, with Addington Court Golf Club and a scout camp on one side and the steep escarpment to New Addington on the other. It also passes a nature reserve before it reaches Fickleshole and the White Bear pub.
With few road junctions, the three-mile stretch often sees vehicles travelling at well over the speed limit.
When Irons contacted the council about the families’ road safety concerns, it took Croydon’s highways and traffic department six months to respond.
The council said it would “look at the feasibility of introducing measures on Featherbed Lane in future years, subject to available funding and resources”.
Yes: “in future years”.
Cash-strapped and dysfunctional Croydon Council had just fobbed off the MP for Croydon East.
Fobbed off: the council took six months to reply to Croydon East MP Natasha Irons
According to Irons, since she received her no-action reply, the council “has since confirmed that the original allocation for safer corridors and neighbourhoods was £1.355million but later reduced this to £955,000, slashing £400,000 from the street safety budget”.
And Irons says that the council isn’t capable of spending the money it has been given to make the borough’s roads safer. “Even with the reduced allocation, only £881,000 was spent, leaving £74,000 of the allocated budget unclaimed that could have funded additional road safety improvements.”
Staff and parents at Forestdale Primary School, on Pixton Way, off Featherbed Lane, have supported the MP’s petition calling for a range of safety improvements, including:
- Speed visors to remind drivers of the speed limit
- More safety signs
- Improved kerbs and pavements to make the road safer and more accessible
“When children tell you they don’t feel safe walking to school, we all have a duty to act,” Irons said following a visit to the school.
“The council had funding allocated for road safety measures, but left £74,000 on the table, money that could be used to improve safety outside our schools.
“The issue was not a lack of funding, but Croydon Council failing to deliver.”
“I urge all parents to sign our petition and protect our pupils.”
Read more: ‘We live in a danger zone’: locals call for action on speeding
Read more: Croydon is smashing it for hit-and-runs by dangerous drivers
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