Campaign for speed restriction

7:50am Sunday 12th October 2008

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A FATHER who fears for the safety of his children is campaigning for a speed restriction outside a Northwood school.

More than £500,000 has been pumped into making improvements in Green Lane, where St Helen’s Girls School is based, but Dr Ali Al-Mahdawie is concerned more short term measures are needed.

He says the speeding cars together with the narrow pavements is making the area outside the school unsafe for the youngsters.

Dr Al-Mahdawie of Woodside Road has two daughters who attend the school.

He has asked the school to get the council to look into improving the pavement and introducing a speed zone.

Hillingdon Council is currently undertaking a major refurbishment of the area in Northwood which will soon see more pedestrian crossings and a 20mph zone in Green Lane.

The council has invested £413,000 and £174,000 of the funding has been secured from Transport for London.

But Dr Al-Mahdawie, said: “The pavement is too narrow and when the school children come out and they are on the street, they get sucked in by the speeding cars.

“It is dangerous and there needs to be speeding restrictions in that area like there is near the majority of other schools.

“I have stopped using my car in line with the green policy and I know that there are some ten other parents doing the same.

“But there also needs to be some form of safety for the children leaving school.

“There are nearly 1,000 little girls coming in and out of that school everyday and two of them are my children. We are concerned at the speed in which the cars travel down Green Lane.

“Almost everyday when my girls get to the school they raise the issue so the school are aware of this.”

Paul Tiley, deputy head at the school, said they are very supportive of Dr Al-Mahdawie’s concerns.

He said: “The pavement is too narrow and the lampposts do take up a lot of space so the pavement definitely needs to be widened.

“We totally support what Dr Al-Madawie is trying to achieve. I am horrified that the parents feel this way and something needs to be done.

He added: “We always encourage parents to walk their children to school to ease congestion outside the school area.

“There is also a car park in Green Lane which we ask the parents to use and then walk up to the school.”

Improvements are currently taking place in the centre of Northwood and a display of the plans can be found at Oaklands Gate Library in Green Lane.