I REFER to the letter concerning the School Crossing Patrol (SCP) at Winterbourne Abbas First School (Your Say, October 17).

Richard Hyde claims that ‘when decisions are made many of the councillors are no more than voting fodder’ and that ‘half of them do not even know where Winterbourne Abbas is’. The Winterbourne Abbas SCP had been retained when the pedestrian controlled crossing was first installed because the A35 was considered to be sufficiently dangerous to justify both. Indeed, it is still sufficiently dangerous, the cross-party policy development panel set up to review SCPs was advised, to require the re-routing of the school bus so that children would be dropped off on the school (southern) side of the A35. The minutes of the environment committee on September 29 record that I raised concerns over the removal of the Winterbourne Abbas SCP before adequate road safety improvements were carried out at this location.

I then proposed that ‘withdrawal of funding from April 1 for all school crossing patrol sites that operated at formal signal controlled pedestrian crossing facilities or zebra crossings’ should ‘not be supported’. That amendment was carried but DCC’s cabinet did not accept this recommendation.

Seemingly, in the case of Winterbourne Abbas, they relied on officers’ advice that very few non accompanied children approached the school over the crossing.

Whatever the rights or wrongs of the issue, it is not correct to imply that members voted ignorant of the issues.

Coun Ian C Gardner Dorset CC, West Dorset DC & Chickerell TC