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20
Sept 2023
Harrogate Grammar School head says 20mph zone should include Otley Road
The headteacher of Harrogate Grammar School has said a section of Otley Road should be reduced to 20mph to improve safety for schoolchildren.
North Yorkshire Council announced last week speed limits will be introduced outside seven schools in Harrogate under plans for a “landmark” 20mph zone across Pannal Ash and Oatlands.
The move followed repeated calls from headteachers and parents to introduce lower speed limits around schools following high-profile collisions involving vehicles and pedestrians. This included an incident this year that left two schoolchildren in hospital.
The seven schools Harrogate Grammar School (HGS), Rossett Acre Primary School, Rossett School, Ashville College, St Aidan’s Church of England High School, Oatlands Junior School and Oatlands Infants School.
The 20mph zone by HGS will be introduced on Arthurs Avenue and its surrounding side roads.
But the headteacher of Harrogate’s largest secondary school Neil Renton said the zone should be extended to include the busy B6162 Otley Road, which is a key route in-and-out of town and currently has a limit of 30mph.
A statement was read out on behalf of Mr Renton at a meeting of councillors on the council's Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee on Thursday.
He said:
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Officers published a report ahead of the meeting that said due to national and council policy as well as “the volume of traffic” on Otley Road it would not be possible to introduce a 20mph speed limit.
Liberal Democrat councillor for Bilton Grange and New Park, Monika Slater, asked the council’s chief highways officer Melisa Burnham if she was aware of how other cities had “circumvented” national guidelines to introduce 20mph limits on A or B roads.
Ms Burnham said:
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