‘We were promised safe route to school six years ago – why can’t we …

Edd Moore and Damers First School Pictures: Google Maps/Trevor Bevins

A SAFE route to Dorchester’s Damers School could be years away – according the those lobbying for it.

A campaigner for the route to the Poundbury school, Edd Moore, has told Dorset councillors that, judged on current progress, if the route does eventually get built most of the current first school pupils are likely to be at university by then.

Mr Moore said that the safe route was promised by Dorset Council and the Duchy of Cornwall in 2017, but has not been delivered.

He told councillors that the Damers Eco Crew, the Dorchester Transport Action Group and Sustrans, the sustainable transport action group, had now been actively campaigning for the promised route for more than a year.

Mr Moore said the majority of those asked in a questionnaire said they would use the route at other times, as well as for the school run, with 71 per cent saying they would use a cycle route between Dorchester and Poundbury.

He told Dorset councillors that a senior highways officer at Dorset Council initially dismissed the idea of the route claiming that Dorchester and Poundbury were in a better position than most towns and that the focus on safer routes in Dorset was in Bournemouth and Ferndown where they could make a bigger impact.

Mr Moore said a meeting was eventually held where it was said that the safer route could take 5-10 years to complete, depending on funding and public consultations over each section.

Three phases are envisaged for the project – from the southern end of South Street to the rail bridge on Damers Road; from the bridge to Damers First School and then to Monkey’s Jump roundabout at the western edge of Poundbury, as the third phase.

“All these phases will support other cycle routes and lanes within the town and afar. connecting up cycle lanes/routes that are in place or could be in place.

We have been measuring the air quality around our school and neighbouring roads with Sustrans over the last 4 weeks to add more evidence to our case.

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We do not want to wait 5 – 10 years to have a safe cycle lane/route that was already promised to Damers First School, local schools, Dorchester and Poundbury in 2017. We have already waited 6 years,” said Mr Moore.

“Why can’t there be a safe cycle lane/route from Dorchester Town to Poundbury built in the next 12 months?”

Highways and climate portfolio holder Cllr Ray Bryan said the council had already constructed a route linking the Victoria Park area of Dorchester to the new school site in Poundbury in advance of its opening, including a new pedestrian crossing of Bridport Road near Whitfield Road.

“This is well used by children walking, scooting and cycling to both the school, and for other trips in the area,” he said.

“We continue to work with the Dorchester Transport Action Group on potential routes between Dorchester town centre and the existing active travel routes near Poundbury. We are looking to see if funding from central government could be made available for such projects.

“Dorset Council teams are currently working on schemes to improve links to schools in many parts of the county, including Dorchester, and I very much hope that we can secure funding for similar projects, such as the link between Poundbury and Dorchester town centre, in the future.”