Campaigners are celebrating as a speed limit near a school is set to be reduced after a 25-year battle to ensure pupils' safety.
Bucklesham Parish Council has been granted approval from Suffolk County Council to reduce the speed limit in Brightwell Road from 60mph to 40mph as it passes Bucklesham Primary School.
The parish council has tried numerous times over the years to reduce the speed limit past the school.
Parish council chairman, Clive Lenton, said: "We have been working hard with Rachael Rudge, headteacher of Bucklesham Primary, and Joshua White, our highways liaison engineer, to finally make the powers that be see sense.
"This is something the parish council have been hoping to change for many years.
"We have people on the council who started this campaign when their children were at the school, and now those children have children of their own – it’s been that long."
"It’s been a great team effort, with Chloe Lee, communities officer from East Suffolk Council, working hard to secure £10,000 for the parish council to now fund the changes.
"It could take up to 12 months to complete before signs are installed on the ground, but at least we got there in the end.
"I pay tribute to all parish councillors, past and present, and our clerk, Ruth, for never giving up the fight."
Rachael Rudge, headteacher at Bucklesham Primary School, said every school should be able to implement the measures needed to ensure children’s safety.
She said: “Children walk along and cross the 60mph road - luckily, we have not had any near-misses, but they’re quite rightly scared.
“It will be massive for the safety of the children.”
Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter said: "This is a major step forward for the school and the young students – and a big thanks to East Suffolk Council for approving and funding Bucklesham Parish’s application.
“But we can’t be complacent – there is a lot more yet that we need to do to improve road safety at the school gates – here at Bucklesham Primary and right across Suffolk Coastal."
Share