Alliance Strangford Westminster candidate Michelle Guy looks over issues at road safety at St Mary’s Primary School, Dunsford
Downpatrick area Councillor Cadogan Enright brought Alliance’s Westminster candidate Michelle Guy to St Mary’s Primary School in Dunsford last week to explain “road safety issues around the refusal of DfI Roads to consider a pavement between the school and the village.”
Dunsford is now the most Southerly point in the re-drawn Strangford Constituency with Alliance’s Michelle Guy neck-and-neck in the race for the seat with DUP’s Jim Shannon.
Michelle Guy said: “There are obvious road safety issues with not having a pavement between the school and the village, and not only at pick up or drop off times at the school.
“Staff have a nightmare situation of walking crocodiles of children down through the village community centre and the church without a pavement.
“There also seems to be a chaotic arrangement of speed safety signs in the village where one moves from 30mph to 40mph then 20mph to 40mph and 30mph again – so on and so forth.
“I understand that the Road Service is now opposing the planning application by Dunsford’s cross-community centre to build the pavement itself”.
Michelle Guy explained: “If elected as MP for this new constituency, I will not allow this intolerable situation to be left unresolved.
“DfI Roads have clearly got it wrong in Dunsford and I will be meeting with Roads DfI to demand a resolution to this unacceptable situation.”
Councillor Cadogan Enright added: “The Roads Service have deemed this stretch of road as receiving insufficient ‘points’ under its criteria for a pavement.
“Local landowners have even offered land for free to the authorities if they will build a pavement.
“Following meetings with elected representatives where the Roads Service refused to budge on building a pavement, the village community centre itself applied for planning permission to allow the community to build a pavement instead.
“DfI Roads are now opposing the planning application on what looks to me like very dubious grounds.”
