Parents urgent call for gritting outside Harrogate primary school

Fears have been raised over Crag Lane outside Kettlesing Felliscliffe Community Primary School after temperatures dropped earlier this month.

Parent support group, Friends of Kettlesing Felliscliffe Primary School, say this isn’t the first time they have called on North Yorkshire County Council to grit the road.

Secretary, Lisa Taljaard said: “While the road in the village has been gritted the one outside the school has not been touched. A lot of the children are now left walking on ice.“One parent has already fallen and injured her back, she was carrying her one year old son who was also hurt.”

Headteacher of the school, Lisa Jackson-Ward, said was also concerned over the icy conditions, and has already made representations to the council.

The current state of the road isn’t the only concern for parents, with the County Council being asked to reduce the speed on the road.

Now set at 60mph pupils are believed to be at risk, especially if drivers are going at that speed when the road is not being gritted.

Mrs Taljaard said: “The thing is we have already tried to have it changed, but with no luck.“You can imagine what could happen if cars are coming down at that speed and they skid on the ice.”

She added: “All the children go to the village hall for pe classes, nothing is there stop a car ploughing through if they skidded.

While a review will now be held on the speed the County Council said gritting would not be possible.

A NYCC Spokesperson said:“In such a rural county it is not possible to treat to the gates of every school. “This is why a salt bin is provided immediately outside the school for use on the road on a self-help basis. “In addition, routes to schools do receive attention in snow conditions and are among the first routes to be cleared of snow once the priority gritting routes are clear.“Requests to upgrade the route outside Kettlesing Felliscliffe Community Primary School for gritting purposes have been considered a number of times and have been declined. "This is because it would be inconsistent to treat this route in comparison to similar routes elsewhere in the county and the budget is not available to extend the treatment beyond that currently covered by our policy.”

Parents have been frustrated by the County Council’s response, pointing out the road is too big to grit themselves and would require a large number of volunteers.