Basingstoke’s MP, Maria Miller invited residents to meet EEEA -Engage, Enrich, Excel Academies Multi-Academy Trust which will run the new £17.5 million Hounsome Fields Primary School. Maria is backing residents calls for an urgent review of road safety, including a cut in the speed limit on the A30, the installation of a new pedestrian Puffin crossing and a review of the availability of parents parking to help keep children, parents and all local residents safe when the new school opens in September 2025.
Maria said, "Parents on the south west of Basingstoke know we need a new school and welcome the opening of Hounsome Fields Primary school. Not all of the new houses will be built when the school opens so the school will provide Primary school places to families in Kempshott, Hatch Warren, Beggarwood, as well as the new estates in Hounsome Fields, the Golf Course and Longacre. This makes it all the more important to address road safety concerns now and ensure adequate parking for parents who may be travelling from Hatch Warren or Beggarwood.
“Whilst there are plans for a road crossing on the A30 the timing of it opening isn’t confirmed nor has the specification of the crossing been made public. At present there are no plans to cut the speed limit meaning families face crossing 4 lane of traffic at speeds of up to 50 mph to reach local shops, a nursery, community centre and school.
“The County Council has a statutory duty to make sure children can get to school safely and thats why I am calling on them to install a new Puffin crossing, to review parents’ parking, and to cut the speed on the A30 to 40 mph from the motorway to Kempshott roundabout. The A30 no longer runs through rural farmland at this point, and instead now gives hundreds of local residential access to 5 major housing estates. The historic speed limit is unsuitable and needs to be cut, to better reflect the residential nature of the area and the location of the new school which will, at the start, serve a wide area."
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