Cycling UK Forum

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/se ... fears.html

..this time the issue seems to be bike parking problems, not road safety concerns.

If theres no cycle parking then they should bl@@dy well build some Grrrrr!
Its not actually a budget breaker,I'd bet theres no end of grass availalbe that needs moving,it may even work out cheaper in the long run.
Oh how I do hate to see this health and safety card being played at every opportunity by any authoratitive body for whom it suits.
This country has become a "no you can't do that" place instead of a "how can we do this to help" country.

Staff are concerned they will get knocked over in the narrow driveway...

Maybe if the staff took more care when driving up the narrow driveway the kids wouldn't be in any danger.

reohn2 wrote:If theres no cycle parking then they should bl@@dy well build some Grrrrr!
Its not actually a budget breaker,I'd bet theres no end of grass availalbe that needs moving,it may even work out cheaper in the long run.
Oh how I do hate to see this health and safety card being played at every opportunity by any authoratitive body for whom it suits.
This country has become a "no you can't do that" place instead of a "how can we do this to help" country.

Absolutely. H&S being used to justify a decision taken for some other reason. Of course they could manage the situation.

Guy951 wrote:

Staff are concerned they will get knocked over in the narrow driveway...

Maybe if the staff took more care when driving up the narrow driveway the kids wouldn't be in any danger.

Yes indeed. They already seem to manage with 1000 pedestrians using the 'narrow drive' 'several times a day'

Why do they not ban the cars and taxi's

NUKe wrote:Why do they not ban the cars and taxi's

WHAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you don't mean,you can't mean,baaaannnnnnn the,the,car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Should it be called Health and Safety?

or renamed

Health OR Safety.

I cycle to a premier league football ground which has over 40,000 people entering and leaving during a short time via restricted entrances to the stadium's grounds which are mainly used as car parks. There are plenty of bike racks and I've never heard of any health and safety concerns.

One solution to this school's problems would be to ban cars from the site. There is no obligation for an employer to offer free, onsite car parking to staff, and if doing so causes health and safety problems for users of other vehicles and pedestrians then perhaps the council should invoke a car ban except for disabled staff.

The easy answer is that Balls should include it in the school inspection and grading system. They'd be falling over to have bikes in then. You'd be getting stories of dinner ladies being paid to wheel them in two at a time.

Since the Scottish Railway Paths Project (precursor to Sustrans) Safe Routes to School report for Lothian Council in 1983 their scools have had a clear policy and prcatice of having either a separate motor vehicle access and parking or a ban on vehicle movements during periods when children are moving around - Plus a requirement for ALL large delivery vehicles to have a vanguard on foot supervising their movements on the school site.

When one Council can have this as a policy which has now been in place across the former Region's schools for over quarter of a century one wonders what excuses are holding back a blanket application for all schools across the UK?

Guy951 wrote:

Staff are concerned they will get knocked over in the narrow driveway...

Maybe if the staff took more care when driving up the narrow driveway the kids wouldn't be in any danger.

Aye, Not that children walking makes any difference if its a narrow driveway.

Or if no one was allowed to drive and everyone had to walk/cycle.

I've said this before, schools that have narrow access should ban vehicles, and force children to walk/cycle a few hundred metres, maybe this would encourage them to walk/cycle the entire way.

As for teachers access, they should be arriving before the children anyway... lazy buggers.

The whole tale seems symptomatic of why this country is not cycle minded! It appears just too easy for the powers that be to take the easy way & ban everything, instead of thinking a little & grasping the benefits. If people cycling on school premises is a hazard, undoubtedly cars etc. must be worse!
There are grants freely available to provide secure, covered parking for cycles. Hopefully the L.A. will get a grip of the school & sort it out!
As a National Standards Instructor, occasionally come across schools that are anti-cycling, but most seem keen to get their children cycling safely on the roads.