Residents of Bainton Road strongly believe that a real danger to the lives of schoolchildren (and their parents) will be created by St John College’s proposed development of a nursery on 1½ acres of land abutting the St John’s College sports ground.

Our daily traffic survey from 8am to 9am for one week in February showed on average: 70.2 adult cyclists; 109.8 adults on bike or foot accompanying a children; 36 children cycling alone.

The number of children on bike or foot, travelling alone, was highest at 57 on the Thursday.

The site entrance lies between two blind corners and is narrow. Cyclists are known to have come off their bikes several times lately on this narrow, sloping bit of road.

It is indeed a cycle route, but to add cars, cycles, and pedestrians’ delivering babies and pre-schoolers to the pre-existing crowd using the route in the hour 8am-9am will greatly increase the volume of traffic and the danger of accidents. We fear for the lives of children.

St John’s has not conducted a consultation with residents so far: they met our local councillor Elizabeth Wade, but rebutted all her concerns.

In the artist’s impression of the site in your edition of April 10, the site appears larger than it actually is: it is hardly enough for a building with several rooms plus facilities, play area sufficient for 30 children, and staff parking plus drop-off area.

Our concerns are not ‘nimbyism’: we are concerned for the lives of the children who already crowd down Bainton Road to school each morning.

It would be good to feel that the local paper supports our concerns for the community at large, and the precious next generation.

We shall continue to campaign for this application to be seriously challenged and questioned.

CLARE MH WEINER
Bainton Road
Oxford