School crossing cash still a problem

Sawyers Bay School principal Gareth Swete (left) and school patrollers Ethan Aitcheson (9) and...
Sawyers Bay School principal Gareth Swete (left) and school patrollers Ethan Aitcheson (9) and Olivia Goldsmith (9, at right) keep an eye out for vehicles at the school gates on Stevenson Ave, Sawyers Bay. File photo by Brenda Harwood.
A Dunedin City Council offer to help fix a dangerous Sawyers Bay School crossing might be insufficient to get the project happening.

After earlier spurning requests to fund a solution amid fears a child could be hit by a car speeding along Stevenson Ave, the council this week offered to put $3000 towards a raised crossing, leaving the community to pay the remaining $4000.

Both Sawyers Bay School principal Gareth Swete and Chalmers Community Board chairman Steve Walker said this was too much to ask of the community.

''It seems fairly harsh to ask the school to stump up $4000 so the board has unanimously passed a motion asking the council to contribute $4000 ... on the proviso that if it does so the board will also contribute $1000,'' Mr Walker said.

That meant the school would only need to raise $2000, which was a more realistic figure, he said.

''The board feels that children's safety near Sawyers Bay School is of paramount importance and is keen to see the Sawyers Bay school crossing made safe a soon as possible.''

Mr Swete said he was pleased the council had taken another look at funding the project, but felt $4000 was too much to ask from the school.

''We have a very small operations grant to work from as it is, so we wouldn't want to take money away from classroom programmes,'' he said.

He understood why the council wanted community funding for the project and the school could raise some funding if the figure was smaller.

The safety problem stemmed from the ''significant'' amount of traffic which went from Northeast Valley to Port Chalmers over the high road and on to Stevenson Ave.

''The cars coming down from the top of the hill travel at ridiculous speeds ... and it's just waiting for an accident to happen.''

It was particularly dangerous outside school hours when nobody was monitoring the crossing, Mr Swete said.

vaughan.elder@odt.co.nz

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