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Most children currently at Swanage First School live within walking distance of the Mount Scar site and many parents currently walk their children to school, which would not be possible if we were to move to the Middle School site.
The potential is for the parents of the 140 children currently at Swanage First to have to drive their children to school in Herston. This is the equivalent of building an out of town shopping centre on the edge of Swanage, increasing traffic on a busy stretch of road by up to 280 journeys a day.
This proposal goes against Dorset's own sustainable transport policies - see Dorset County Council's policy document here and a summary here.
The council says:
As part of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 Dorset County Council has a duty to promote the use of sustainable travel to and from schools.
The proposal directly contradicts that.
The plan will put our children at risk of injury
On a more immediate level it will make the busy road in and out of town even more dangerous for our children. The Herston end of the High Street is already a bottleneck and there are several locations along the High Street where the pavement disappears. There is only one safe crossing point between the seafront and the Middle School, over a mile away.
Creating more school traffic will cause congestion and increased road danger for our children.
The proposal does not mention these problems. There is no provision in the proposal's budget for free transport or for pedestrian crossings and road improvements.