School to revise traffic plan

Local school changes traffic plan after Bell Tower objections.

E P Collier School has changed its plan to move the “School Keep Clear” signs away from the entrances to the nursery and playground on York Road following objections from Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower Community Association objected to Reading Borough Council’s traffic management sub-committee and in the local press after the subcommittee approved the changes despite Bell Tower pointing out that the council officer had submitted a plan that did not show the new entrances.

The main thrust of Bell Tower’s objections was that the creation of drop zones facilitates taking children to school by car and that more traffic would inevitably raise the risk of accidents. This also flies in the face of the council’s own stated policy of discouraging car use on the school run.

The extension of double-yellow lines in the area around the school will result in the reduction of already limited residents’ parking space. One piece of good news is that with the completion of the school car park, the residents’ parking permits issued to some school staff have now been withdrawn.