Ulverston school children find better way to school

Pupils from Lindal and Marton School near Dalton-in-Furness will be taking advantage of a new footpath constructed as part of the Better Ways to School initiative to attend their sports day on Wednesday, 9th July. 

The school's 81 pupils will be using the new path, which has greatly improved safety and the environment around the school, when they use it to walk from the school to the village green at around 1pm. 

Barrow Local Committee has provided a total of £67,000 through Cumbria County Council's Better Ways to School programme, a major initiative aimed at encouraging better use of more sustainable forms of transport and improving safety on the school journey. The footpath has been constructed in two phases with phase two having been completed recently. The path is elevated from the road and has involved constructing a wall and parking bays. 

Councillor Peter Phizacklea, member of Barrow Local Committee and local county councillor, said: 

"The Better Ways to School initiative is all about improving the quality and safety of peoples lives and protecting and sustaining the environment - and this footpath has achieved both those objectives. Thousands of pounds have been spent in Barrow and countywide on a whole host of measures aimed at improving safety near schools and improving the environment. I am delighted that children at this school have benefited from the initiative and that their walk to school is safer." 

Schools benefiting from Better Ways to School, which is managed by Capita, the County Council's highways consultants, produce a Travel Plan, which details measures aimed at encouraging better use of more sustainable forms of transport and improving safety on the school journey. Another initiative that the school is working on as part of that Travel Plan is the possibility of developing a walking bus. 

David Barlow, Head Teacher at the school, said:   

"This new footpath has made a real difference by making the pupils' journey to school much safer and reducing the number of cars, thereby improving the environment. Before the path was built and the parking bays constructed, children had to walk in the middle of the road to reach school, which was unacceptable. The path has encouraged more children to walk to school and also convinced more parents to leave their cars at home.