Opinion: Actions will always speak louder than words

On the Friday before, three of us were handing out leaflets outside Newark Hill school on Eastfield Road asking parents to sign our petition. Paul Bristow was asking people to sign his. We all wanted the same thing; to save the school crossing patrol on one of the busiest roads into the city centre.

But I felt frustrated. Petitions are great but they don’t save jobs or lives until they are successful and with less than two weeks to the city’s full council budget meeting, we needed to do something – fast.

The week before, Labour’s parliamentary candidate, Andrew Pakes, fellow Dogsthorpe ward councillor, Katy Cole, who also teaches in the ward, and I met with the headteacher and pupils not only told us how concerned they were for their own and for their fellow pupil’s safety but also drew posters they have to

us to highlight their concerns.

My regular readers (thank you to all three of you) may recall that my son was knocked down on a school crossing patrol many years ago. Thankfully, he was OK; it was a relatively quiet road, and he wasn’t listening to what the lollipop lady told him to do (he hasn’t changed much). But the feeling I had when I received news that your child has been knocked down is a feeling I still vividly recall. I would not wish it on anyone.

On the Friday night I happened to be speaking to council leader Mohammed Farooq on my way to Warwick. I had wondered whether I could use the fund that each councillor receives to pay for projects in the city, the Community Leadership Fund. Until last year, it could only be used for capital spend. Most of mine this year has gone towards a traffic calming scheme which is being jointly funded by my fellow Dogsthorpe and the Park ward councillors.

This year, however, it could also be spent on revenue items such as cleaning up areas of the ward and city and we can also combine our funds to pay for larger projects. Farooq reminded me that I could allocate money from next year’s fund as Katy and I had already spent most of our funds on projects in our ward.

A swift exchange of emails with two directors to confirm what I wanted to do was in the ‘rules’ led to Katy and me, along with fellow Labour councillors from neighbouring wards being able to announce we could save the crossing patrol for a year.

Thanks to support, help and guidance from fellow councillors and officers, we achieved our objective and ended the uncertainty with no need to resort to a petition. We also don’t need to revise the city’s budget with less than a week to full council to go. The school staff, parents and pupils were delighted. It isn’t a permanent solution, but it does give officers time to find one.

It was a busy weekend. One that I will never forget for the best reasons. Actions will always speak louder than words and opinions and I am grateful for everyone pulling together to achieve a great outcome, for the school in our ward and for collaboration between political parties and officers. Is this the future we as politicians, residents and voters have been waiting for?