Mum’s delight at Eye school crossing petition success as Peterborough MP offers praise

Katie Berry, and other parents of pupils at Eye Primary School, were shocked to discover that their long-serving lollipop lady Lisa Bryan was to be made redundant, with no additional safety measures planned to replace her.

The parents were informed that a zebra crossing would be built as part of a planned 265-home development nearby, but there was no time scale as to when it would happen.

Ms Berry, who has two young sons at Eye Primary School, handed in her petition at Peterborough Town Hall on June 10 which had over 800 signatures and called for “continuous safety provision” until a permanent crossing was installed.

To the delight of Ms Berry, parents at the school, and the three Eye ward councillors who supported the petition, Peterborough City Council announced on June 16 that a temporary crossing would be installed at the school

“I’m really pleased that the council made the sensible decision to make sure there will be provision in place,” Ms Berry said.

“It’s bittersweet because it’s a sad confirmation that our lollipop lady Lisa will no longer be in the role. She’s done a fabulous job.

“There should never have been a situation that this was going to be allowed to happen in the first place. To have gone through so many steps for them to finally say ‘oh that is a good idea’ just doesn’t make any sense.

“It’s been a lot of hard work but just shows that if you’re passionate about something and need change, you can do it.”

The petition was due to be debated on at a full council meeting in July, but the council decided to act before it got that far.

Councillor Angus Ellis, cabinet member for environment and transport at the council, said: “We take the concerns of school pupils and parents extremely seriously and that is why we have acted to make sure that a temporary crossing is installed here.”

He added: “Myself, local ward councillors, and Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes have acted in response to a petition from residents and I look forward to seeing this crossing installed.”

Mr Pakes welcomed the news and said: “The worst outcome would have been leaving the school without any safety measures at all.

“Thank you to the parents who raised this issue with me, and to the local councillors who championed their cause. Council funding may be limited, but that should never mean compromising on children’s safety.”

Eye, Thorney and Newborough ward councillors Mark Ormston, Steve Allen and Rylan Ray supported the parents’ campaign and even used their community funds to keep lollipop lady Ms Bryan in her role until the end of the school year.

“It’s full credit to Katie and the community for making their voices heard,” Cllr Ormston said.

“There’s enough stories where these things are put together and nothing happens so to have a win is positive.”

Cllr Allen said: “It’s fantastic that community support for getting something sorted has actually borne fruit.

“It’s great for us councillors as we supported the campaign from the outset. I’m glad that the administration and council officers are listening because what we have is a sensible outcome.”

School crossing patrols at three other schools in Peterborough were also removed as part of the council’s budget setting process for 2024/25.

A separate petition was made, asking the council to reinstate all school crossing patrols at Eye, Old Fletton, Newark Hill and Werrington where cuts were made.

It was signed by 573 people, meaning it is eligible for submission to full council.