Campaigners force meeting on town park safety

Wednesday 07 September 2016

A group of town residents has forced a parish meeting to look at road safety around the Millennium Town Park, following the death of three-year-old Clinton Pringle in June.

They want an independent safety expert to review the road layout around the park, after branding temporary measures to reduce traffic as a "joke."

Clinton was on holiday in Jersey when he was hit by a van while crossing the road on the Tunnell Street side of the Park, and the Friends of the Millennium Town Park group have been campaigning ever since to get the area made safer.

The roads are the responsibility of the Parish, and the group have used an old legal device known as a 'requette' to force Town Constable Simon Crowcroft to hold a parish meeting within two weeks.

Road safety campaigner Nicola McAteer said: “We need to have an independent road safety expert appointed, we need to understand what they suggest; we would obviously like it to be pedestrianised but whether that is viable is something that probably needs to be reviewed.

“We want him or her to look at the whole of the surrounding area, not just where this incident happened because since the tragic accident there have been other near misses in the area.”

Mrs McAteer was sent photos of cars parked illegally near the park by neighbours and says action must be taken now to avoid another tragedy. 

“On 31 August I also sent another email to Constable Crowcroft and there were photos of cars on the supposed pavement outside the Gas Place café. Traffic users don’t seem to be adhering to the system. A lot of people don’t understand it’s a pavement, because it’s all on the one level, there’s no distinction between the pavement and the road and parents and children are having to walk in the road.

“It’s a really bad blind corner where there isn’t an actual physical barrier stopping children running out into that road. There’s no gated railing stopping toddlers, they can just run round the current railing straight on to the road.

"We want the community to be able to ask questions and get answers. For the Constable to meet with the community, would really help build bridges so we can all work together as a community to make the area safer.

“When we know the date of the assembly, we need the community to stand up and be counted. We would like the community to come along and get their questions answered. I have not met one person who would oppose changes to this area."

Constable Crowcroft says it's likely the meeting will take place as part of the monthly assembly on the last Wednesday of the month, but they need to be careful:

"We have to take care as it is a matter under police investigation. We could end up making the situation a whole lot worse. We don't know yet what the position is with the driver involved."

A 38-year-old woman was arrested in connection with road traffic offences at the time of Clinton's death but has not been charged.