Hampshire County Council is reported to be planning to axe 26 out of a total of 184 school crossing patrols in a bid to save the relatively paltry sum of a mere £1.1 million to reduce its shortfall of £132 million (Chronicle, January 18). 

However, it is apparently also considering measures to ensure ongoing child safety, which may include changes to roads, signs and speed limits or installing traffic lights. Each or all of these may or may not be an adequate replacement for human patrols. As campaigners against the measures have complained just one preventable child injury could have a tragic and enormous impact on many people.

But in addition, bearing in mind a recent relatively minor change to one junction involved an eye-watering cost for the slight improvement produced, it would be instructive to know the costs of the reconstruction aspects, plus the costs of the back-office planning organisation, to arrive at a real-life assessment of the savings achieved.

 

Michael Turner,

Boyne Mead Road,

Kings Worthy