Living Streets Guernsey Safe Routes to Schools

Making safe routes to school happen -the Baubigny Schools pathway

Living Streets Guernsey LBG has opened the new pathway to St. Sampson's High and Le Murier schools. Students can now walk or cycle through the countryside using a virtually traffic free route into the back of the schools.

This project has been all about choice. We believe that students should have the option of being able to walk or cycle to school. Two thirds of St. Peter Port students used to go to their school in Les Ozouets on foot or on their bikes. We wanted to find a way for them to continue to do so.

In 2007, with the help of local residents, we set out to find a route through to the new schools using the existing footpaths and green lanes. The most direct route involved a short cut through a private vinery site which backed onto the school land. Our contribution to this project was negotiating a pathway along the edge of this 8 acre vinery.

Without this “missing link” the route could not have been developed and we are proud of what we have achieved.

Thanks to the support and advice from the Planners in the Environment Department we have been able to develop an attractive wide pathway flanked by new earth banks and fenc- ing. Funding and help in kind from many Guernsey companies has enabled us to clad a large bank of glasshouses near the path with clear pvc to guard against flying glass.

New pedestrian gates have been installed at each end of the vinery site which are kept permanently open for the students. In February we planted 600 hawthorns on top of the 200m of earth banks to complete the project.

Currently only a handful of students are using the new route which is very disappointing. However, we are confident that the numbers will build up in the future once parents realise the potential of the route.
We believe that everyone should be working together to encourage students to use the jour- ney to school as an opportunity to keep fit. Research from the Department for Transport found that 9 out of 10 teachers reported that children who walk to school are more alert and ready to work when they enter the classroom.
We have taken three years to develop this route—we now need to sustain it for future generations.

Living Streets Guernsey LBG, Maison du Rocher, Rue de la Vallée, Torteval, GY8 0PW.
Phone: 01481 268088. Email: patwisher@cwgsy.net Website: livingstreets.org.gg