PARENTS were stunned when the county council demanded nearly £50,000 to organise a lollipop lady outside their children's school – even though the annual salary is less than £4,000.
After Essex County Council told parents and governors from Tollesbury Primary School there wasn't enough traffic to warrant a crossing patrol the group convinced the authority to let them self-fund their own.
Sarah Case, whose five-year-old son Fraser goes to the school, said: "When my son started school I was concerned by the level of traffic that was going past the school at drop off and pick up times – not the volume of traffic but the size of the lorries going to and from the nearby business park.
"I couldn't believe there was no form of traffic crossing at all outside the school meaning that children at the top end of the primary school were unable to walk to school alone. The majority of the parents at the school are so concerned about the road and everyone wants something done about it."
After contacting Essex County Council in January this year to ask why there was no pedestrian crossing or lollipop lady, Mrs Case was told there was not enough traffic to warrant one.
The mother-of-two added: "Eventually after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with the council they agreed to a draft policy to allow schools to self-fund.
"And after 10 months of waiting they have at last said that we can have some form of crossing patrol as long as we fundraise, which we are very prepared to do.
"However, what we were not prepared for was the amount of money they require to put this vital safety patrol in place – £46,842 initially for set up and then around £8,342 per annum – it's ridiculous.
"We were originally told it would be in the region of about £18,000 which we thought we would be able to fundraise for, but £50,000 is just such a large amount of money."
The council has claimed the costs include a number of expenses such as £15,000 for "infrastructure" and £15,000 for "decommissioning infrastructure". It also includes a £2,000 safety audit, £3,000 recruitment costs, £3,800 salary and National Insurance, £150 uniform, £200 training, £500 expenses and £4,500 redundancy costs, and annual management costs of more than £2,500.
Mrs Case, a freelance marketing consultant, said: "I can understand that we must pay for uniform and the initial safety audit, but do we really need to pay £15,000 for decommissioning infrastructure which means if we decide in a few years we don't want the lollipop lady the council can pay for redundancies etc?
"It's madness, why should we pay to get rid of something that we desperately need?"
Jayne Mitchell, a governor at the school and whose two daughters Evie, eight, and Leah, seven, attend, said: "There is a real concern about the road and the school is most definitely supportive of the campaign.
"I was hit on the shoulder by a lorry's wing mirror not that long ago and suffered some bruising.
"Luckily someone pulled me back in time but my shoulder is probably at the height of a little one's head. No one wants a serious accident and we're all worried it could happen."
Mrs Case added: "We're hoping the council will lower the cost and we're really hoping that any local businesses out there who want to help and support us will come forward."
Essex county councillor, Derrick Louis, cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "This request was assessed but fell short of the national criteria used by Essex County Council to determine whether a site is suitable for a school crossing patrol. Our records show that there has only been one collision at this location over the past 10 years.
"We have to prioritise our resources for the provision of school crossing patrols for sites with the greatest safety need. For sites that don't meet the criteria we have introduced the option for local communities to self-fund a school crossing patrol, if they feel it is required."
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