Bridgnorth children celebrate the opening of new scooter and cycle parking

Pupils at two primary schools in Bridgnorth are celebrating the installation of new parking for their bicycles and scooters. 

Official openings take place on Tuesday 10 July when pupils at St John’s RC Primary and St Leonard’s CE Primary will be joined by Shropshire Council officers and local councillor, John Hurst-Knight. 

Both schools, located on Innage Lane in Bridgnorth, have seen levels of cycling and scooting increase over recent years. 

Pupils, staff and parents have taken an active part in promoting sustainable travel to the schools.  They have been working in partnership with Shropshire Council, West Mercia Police and Bridgnorth Endowed Secondary School for over 10 years. 

This partnership has led to the installation of new zebra crossings and a 20mph speed limit on Innage Lane, introduction of parent parking permits and regular participation in ‘Bikeability’ training.  The council has been able to fund the new scooter and cycle parking from the Shropshire Sustainable Transport Package.

Councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for active and healthy lifestyles, said:

“It’s great to see that lots of pupils keeping fit and healthy by cycling and scooting to school. These new racks will also hopefully encourage even more.”

Christian Lea, Shropshire Councillor for Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts, said:

“The increase in cycling and scooting to St John’s and St Leonard’s Schools is very pleasing news. Pupils will welcome the provision of the new racks, as a convenient place to park their bikes and scooters and hopefully more pupils will consider cycling or scooting to school now that these additional racks have been provided.”

Kay Ferriday, Headteacher of St Leonard’s, said:

“The new scooter racks are a fabulous resource. The number of children coming to school by scooter has trebled over the past two years. It is wonderful to see. It is a super bonus to have the ongoing support from our travel and transport officers.”

Year Six pupils at St Leonard’s Primary are also taking part in their ‘Bikeability’ (cycling proficiency) training next week. 

Jane Payton, Headteacher, St John’s, said:

“The school has worked with Shropshire Council on the safer routes initiative for a number of years. The pupils have gained a lot from working in partnership with the other schools and the council. We hope to continue to promote safer routes to school for the benefit of the children’s’ own health and the environment.”

The celebrations start with an opening of the St Leonard’s scooter racks at 10am and an opening of cycle parking and presentation of new scooter rack to St John’s at 10.30am.  St John’s pupils will also be bringing their bikes in for free safety checks with Dr Bike.

Further information

Bikeability

This course, run by Shropshire Council, is aimed at improving children’s bike handling skills and road safety awareness, and introduces children to cycling amongst traffic on local roads.  Children who have missed the opportunity to do cycle training at their primary school can take a Level 2 Bikeability course during the summer holidays at Priory School in Shrewsbury, on 23-24 July or 30-31 July.  For more details, please contact the Road Safety team on 01743 254960.

Shropshire Sustainable Transport Package

This package, part-funded from the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF), includes measures designed to encourage more sustainable travel behaviour whilst supporting the local economy and cutting carbon emissions.  The LSTF funding is available until March 2015.