Ardgowan School does not want to play a waiting game when children’s lives are at risk, board of trustees presiding member Simon Berry says.
The Oamaru primary school’s board of trustees has been lobbying the Waitaki District Council for more than a year to bring forward plans for a cycling and walkway from the top of Eden St and along Ardgowan Rd to the school.
Most recently, it submitted on the council’s draft 2022-23 annual plan, offering to raise the money needed for the trail, but seeking support from the council to draw up the plans.
In an ideal world, the council would fund the entire project, but Mr Berry said the board knew it would be too slow at coming up with the money, which was why the community had offered to fundraise.
"But we can’t start fundraising without the plans," Mr Berry said.
However, at last week’s additional council meeting, as councillors were setting the final direction for the annual plan, the project was proposed to be pushed out past the long-term plan, due to no co-funding from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency being available. It was decided $10,000 was allocated to go towards mowing the roadside and investigation planning in 2022-23.
There was some debate over whether the council should be doing more in the next financial year to progress plans, and Deputy Mayor Melanie Tavendale believed it should be a "top priority".
"We’ve got a full programme, but I would love to see this making some headway," Cr Tavendale said.
However, council finance and corporate development group manager Paul Hope’s advice to councillors was to leave it as it was in the annual plan. The council had already committed to a full programme of work it would struggle to deliver as it was, he said.
At present, Ardgowan School has a roll of about 113 pupils, 80% of whom live in the Oamaru township. Of those, 19 catch a bus from the top of Eden St to the school, a 3km trip, because there is no safe way they can walk or bike to school along Ardgowan Rd, which has no footpath and has culverts on both sides of the road. A lot of parents chose to drive their children to school, and there were problems with congestion at the start and end of the school day.
Mr Berry said the area was becoming increasingly busy and there had been several near misses.
He expected a cycling and walkway to be well used by the school and wider community.
He questioned why the council had prioritised a cycle and walkway along Weston Rd, near the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail, construction of which was due to get under way in July and August.
Council roading manager Mike Harrison said the Ardgowan School community’s proposed assistance to progress plans on Ardgowan Rd was being taken seriously and "fully into consideration".
"We are progressing as much as we can within the resources, we have available," Mr Harrison said.
"There is nothing more that the school community can do at present, and we will keep talking with them."
Mayor Gary Kircher said all councillors were "really keen" to get the planning done, and if Government funding became available, the Ardgowan project would be front of mind.
The final 2022-23 annual plan will be presented to councillors for adoption on June 28.
