A council has been accused of wasting money on initiatives to encourage children walking and cycling to school, and has been urged to act.
The Labour Party has accused Wokingham Borough Council of ‘wasting’ £36,000 on a ‘failed’ school streets project, which involves closing roads at school drop-off and pick-up times.
They want Wokingham Borough Council to do more than just support new school travel initiatives on paper and spend money on consultants on projects that are then junked.
It is understood that there were some reservations about school street schemes within the council, as responsibility for enforcing them falls on volunteers from the schools and parents involved.
This followed observation of the Crescent Road school street scheme in East Reading, which serves three schools.
At the last full Wokingham council meeting, councillor Marie-Louise Weighill (Labour, Norreys), asked if a new government initiative, the Junior Active Travel Inspectors scheme, will be supported.
Cllr Weighill said: “The idea is simple. Children audit their own school journeys, identify barriers, and come up with ways to help more pupils walk, cycle, wheel or scoot to school. That means fewer cars, safer streets, and healthier kids.”
Responding, cllr Adrian Betteridge (Liberal Democrats, Barkham & Arborfield), executive member for Active Travel, Transport and Highways, said the council was aware of the initiative and would be picked up by the My Journey Wokingham team as part of the Local Transport Plan.
While Labour councillors welcomed the commitment to expand its existing Junior Active Travel Ambassadors scheme, they had concerns about a pattern of initiatives being launched with enthusiasm, ‘only to fade away without lasting impact’.
Cllr Weighill said: “We’ve seen money spent and consultants hired, but when it comes to actual delivery, the results can be hard to find.”
“A prime example is the School Streets scheme proposed for Radstock Primary School. £36,000 was spent on planning. It now appears the scheme has been abandoned.
“What guarantees do we have that new schemes won’t end the same way?”
There is not currently a School Street in place for Radstock Primary School in Earley, with the spend on a pilot scheme of £36,400 being exposed in a Freedom of Information request.
Wokingham Labour says the council must do more to ensure that well-meaning plans aren’t lost to poor follow-through or financial uncertainty.
After the meeting on July 31, Cllr Weighill said: “Residents deserve to see action, not just warm words.
“Wokingham children and families need safe, reliable ways to walk and cycle to school, and the council needs to deliver on its promises, not shelve them when the headlines fade.
“They may have hoped that the School Streets scheme would quietly fade away, but when thousands of pounds has been wasted with nothing to show for it, council taxpayers have every right to know why.”
