Dublin primary school ‘lacks safe footpath or road crossing’ for pupils
A primary school in north Dublin is lacking a safe footpath and road crossings for children walking to and from school, councillors have said.
Fingal County Council (FCC) is attempting to acquire land surrounding Stapolin Educate Together in Dublin 13 in order to create safer infrastructure.
Currently, the footpath and parking area near the school do not belong to the council, and FCC is working with local landowners to “take charge” of some of the land through a legal process.
Joan Hopkins, councillor for Fingal-East, said the school currently has minimum safety infrastructure to protect children from traffic.
“It’s not the council’s fault that the school was put in this unsafe location, it just reflects poorly on how we think about children,” she said.
“The school has now had some positive meetings with the council – the roads have been assessed and we’ve found a lack of crossings or footpaths.
“Children cannot walk safely to school, so this work has to be done at the earliest.”
Responding to cllr Hopkins’ query on work that will be done around the school, management said an exact timeline could not be provided.
“The council has had a number of site visits and we’ve identified possible interventions,” a member of council management said.
“We’ve had meetings with the landowners to gauge whether they’d be interested in allowing us acquire certain lands.
“There is land on either side of the school the council does not own. If we were to acquire that, the idea is to put a ramp crossing from one side to the other.
“We have had meetings with the school, parents and motorists about front of school safety and to advise them on how to navigate the infrastructure that is now in place.”
The council plans to design a traffic system and introduce road safety audits once it has the permission to build in infrastructure.
Councillor David Healy for Howth-Malahide said: “There are two particular issues – one is crossing that road, and the other is having a safe footpath to walk on – neither of which is under the control of the council.
“We have come across the problem of students travelling to school without a safe path before and put bollards onto the existing pathway.”
The councillor asked if such a temporary measure would be put into place while the council attempted to take charge of the front-of-school area.
FCC management said the work will begin as soon as landowners cooperate, and would work with parents and the school in the meantime.