Child safety fear sparks complaint

Child safety fear sparks complaint

29 May 2013

THE Ombudsman is to be asked to intervene in a roads dispute in Downpatrick which it is claimed is putting the lives of young children at risk.

As another mother tells of a near miss involving her seven year-old son outside Our Lady and St. Patrick’s Primary School, a councillor has accused the Roads Service of serious “maladministration.”

Councillor Cadogan Enright is to lodge a formal complaint with the Ombudsman into the ongoing dispute at Edward Street, outside the large primary school.

The Roads Service is refusing to introduce a one-way system in the street despite widespread pressure from parents at the school, local politicians and official bodies such as the Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service and Translink.

Roads Service officials claim a consultation of local residents showed there is no support for a one-way system. However, it was later revealed that only those opposed to the one-way system were asked to respond.

Councillor Enright has confirmed he intends to lodge a formal complaint about the consultation exercise which he has branded as “one-side and inadequate.”

The politician and a number of his colleagues believe the Roads Service is guilty of “maladministration.”

The Downpatrick councillor is the chairman of a special task force set up to look at roads issues in the area which has already raised its concerns about the Edward Street consultation with the Permanent Secretary at the Department of Regional Development and Transport NI, the body for ensuring the Province’s roads are safe.

Councillor Enright believes there was a “clear and serious procedural failure” on the Roads Service’s part by not conducting a proper and balanced consultation on the proposal to introduce the one-way system.

He and his colleagues are concerned the consultation exercise “fell short of what is expected in the public service,” explaining concern is mounting about the danger the congestion poses to children attending Our Lady and St. Patrick’s Primary School in Edward Street.

News that a formal complaint is to be made to the Ombudsman comes after a pupil leaving the school was nearly hit by a car last Friday afternoon.

They boy was with his mum, Helen Denvir, and his four year-old brother when the incident occurred within moments of them leaving the school entrance. Mrs. Denvir said the congestion was “particularly heavy” with long traffic tailbacks in the area.

She explained: “We were walking away from the school in the direction of the Patrician Youth Centre when two cars mounted the pavement in front of us to avoid a line of vehicles coming towards them.

“The second car was so close to my seven year-old son that he had to move out of the way. He was almost hit. If he had been, I would have went straight to the police.”

Mrs. Denvir said drivers trying to squeeze past other vehicles is a regular occurrence close to the primary school, with some cars scraping up against one another.

“I would like to see a one-way traffic system provided at Edward Street and cannot understand the Roads Service reluctance to implement it,” she continued.

“All its officials have to do is stand outside the entrance to the school to see how bad the traffic congestion is. If they do this they will see why a one-way system is required.”

Mrs. Denvir said her biggest fear is that a child could be badly injured, explaining she has observed vehicles mount the footpath close to Our Lady and St. Patrick’s Primary in the past.

She added: “My children and I have never been placed in such a dangerous situation until last Friday afternoon. The temporary one-way traffic system introduced at Edward Street several years ago was a success. Common sense dictates it should be implemented again.”