Archive - Tuesday, 3 February 2004


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School's concern at 'risky' path site

A CONTROVERSIAL path in Monmouthshire will open to pupils walking to school, despite concerns over its safety.

Plans for the Archbishop Rowan Williams Church in Wales School, in Portskewett, built in September 2001, included the footpath which was branded "unsafe" by teachers, parents and governors.

But after two years of searching for an alternative, the Monmouth Diocesan Trust, which sponsors the school, is pressing ahead with the original plan.

Head teacher Graham Murphy has "grave concerns" about the 150 metre path, which will form a junction with a main road, used by 30,000 juggernauts each year on their way to and from the Sudbrook paper mill.

Concerns were also raised about a dog-leg in the path; a corridor where children cannot be seen.

Richard Tarran, the Diocesan secretary, said children's safety was the top priority, but said: "The footpath is a requirement of the plans for the school. The Trust has no option other to comply with an independent route risk assessment report finalised earlier this month."

The report says the risks are "slightly less" than those if pupils walk along the footpath on the main road.

But Mr Murphy remains unhappy with the position of the path.

"I have grave concerns about how it would be managed by staff. In short, it would be impossible to supervise," he said.

The Trust pledged to install lights to improve safety.

Chairman of the governors and rector of Caldicot Canon Derek Jones said: "This plan is fraught with danger and we're totally opposed to it. The diocese spent time and money investigating alternatives which the council then refused.

"Yet I can't get a written undertaking from the council that this path is safe."

County councillor for Portskewett Peter Fox said the plan was "the best of a bad bunch" but added: "If well-lit and monitored the path should be the safest option."

Highways chief David Harris said: "We felt proposals put to us by the school were less safe than the original proposal - no school path is completely safe but we're looking to reduce the risks as much as possible."