Hampshire County Council plans to axe three New Forest crossing patrols at Exbury Road/Hampton Lane in Blackfield, Studley Avenue/Lime Kiln Lane in Holbury, and A35 High Street in Lyndhurst
AXING three school crossing patrols in the New Forest will risk the safety of children, councillors have warned.
Hampshire County Council is set to cut 17 patrols across Hampshire – but it will also be looking at the future of 154 others.
This includes those services near Blackfield primary, on Exbury Road/Hampton Lane in Blackfield; near Cadland Primary and Manor CofE Infant schools at Studley Avenue/Lime Kiln Lane in Holbury; and on the A35 High Street in Lyndhurst, near Saint Michael and All Angels Infant School.
Cllr Peter Armstrong, who represents Hardley, Holbury and north Blackfield at the district council, and is also a member of Fawley Parish Council, told the A&T the cuts were “a real concern”.
“Whilst I appreciate Hampshire needs to make savings, taking away school crossing patrols for infant school children poses a real safety risk.
“I’ve previously emailed HCC about 20mph [limits] around local infant schools due to speeding issues that I’ve been informed about, and they’ve replied to that and said ‘no’.”
He added: “The safety of children should be paramount. Are Hampshire fully understanding the issues?”
The 17 patrols at risk come from a total of 177 managed by Hampshire County Council.
Of these, 14 do not meet the criteria for patrols, and the other three already have a “safe alternative” in place for children to cross the road without help, a report states.
The lollipop crossings could be removed from the sites in April 2025 if approved. As well as the New Forest, this would affect sites in Havant, Fareham, Gosport, Eastleigh, Hart, Test Valley and Winchester.
Cllr Hilary Brand, who represents Lyndhurst on the district council, echoed the concerns of Cllr Armstrong. She told the A&T: “Axing the school crossing patrol is a very bad decision.
“This road in particular is one where people do not notice or pay attention to the zebra crossing. It often has queues of cars down one side so that drivers can not see people crossing over from the other lane.
“There have been a number of near misses at this crossing which will only become worse with no patrol. The current crossing patrol person, Fran, is known by all the school children and she provides a brilliant service of making sure that the children and parents – often pushing push chairs and managing walking children – can cross safely.
“To save what must be a small amount of money per year to put people in danger does not make sense.”
The decision, set for final approval by the council’s cabinet on 14th October, is one of the 13 proposals included in the second round of the public consultation which aims to cut services over a £175m black hole the council is expected to face by 2025/26.
It says £114,000 could be saved if the 17 patrols are cut, but it has previously proposed removing all patrols, with savings of £1.1m.
Despite this new proposal only removing 17 sites, cabinet papers indicated that 156 other patrols would be under further review to assess whether other measures can be rolled out, removing the need for patrols.
The report reads: “It is therefore anticipated that there would be some SCP (school crossing patrol) sites where the identified alternative measure is too costly to implement and maintain.”
Currently, the county council spends approximately £1.1m a year to provide the service, with an average cost of around £6,000 for each patrol a year.
Councillors will debate the proposal on Monday (23rd September) at the ‘SP25 – Meeting 3, Universal Services Select Committee’.
Here is the list of sites recommended to be cut from April 2025 as they do not meet the criteria set for justifying a patrol:
Eastleigh, Chamberlayne Road/Blenheim Road
Eastleigh, Chapel Road/Moorgreen Road, West End
Fareham, Hunts Pond Road/Longacres, Park Gate
Fareham, Red Lion/Stubbington Green, Stubbington
Fareham, Red Lion/Stubbington Green, Stubbington
Havant, Padnell Avenue, Waterlooville, outside school
Havant, Mill Road, Waterlooville, outside school
Gosport, Gosport Road/Cambridge Road
Gosport ,Wych Lane/Kent Road
New Forest, Exbury Road/Hampton Lane, Blackfield
New Forest, Studley Avenue/Lime Kiln Lane, Holbury
Test Valley, Parkhouse Road, Shipton Bellinger
Winchester, Church Lane, Kings Worthy
Winchester, Church Road, Swanmore
Here is the list of patrol sites recommended to be cut from April 2025 as they do not justify the provision as they already have alternative measures in place:
Eastleigh, Wildern Lane, Hedge End (Zebra Crossing)
Hart, Gally Hill Road, Crookham, outside school (Zebra Crossing)
New Forest, A35 High Street, Lyndhurst (Zebra Crossing)
