Letchworth pupils share road safety concerns to help shape safer neighbourhoods

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Group photo of Garden City Academy Pupil Parliament pupils with Settle colleagues, police representatives and a local councillor in a classroom.

Pupils at Garden City Academy in the Jackmans neighbourhood in Letchworth recently shared their concerns about road safety with Settle’s Neighbourhood Team, local councillor Sean Prendergast and Hertfordshire Police. This was during a Pupil Parliament meeting –  a session where pupils represent their classmates and share ideas for improving their school and local area.

This forms part of Settle’s ongoing work with residents and partners to improve neighbourhood safety, and reflects priorities identified in the Jackman’s Neighbourhood Plan, developed with the local community over the past 12–18 months. 

The session gave the children the chance to talk about their experiences of crossing roads near the school and the changes they would like to see to make the area safer.

The meeting came about after Ollie, a pupil who is also a Settle resident and a Pupil Parliament representative at the school, raised concerns about traffic and road safety at a community event last summer. This led to colleagues and partners being invited to attend the school to discuss how they could work together to ensure children’s voices were heard.

He explained why the issue is important to him:

My vision is to make my school friends and street safer. Every day we are faced with dangers of crossing the road…even when being safe and holding an adult’s hand…My aim is to get a zebra crossing on the street and a speed limit of 20, or maybe even lower during school hours.

Ollie, Pupil Parliament class rep reads his speech to the group of children and adults at the meeting.
Ollie, alongside other Pupil Parliament class representatives sharing their concerns about traffic in the local area.

During the meeting, pupils spoke about issues including speeding, unsafe parking, difficulties crossing the road and the lack of pedestrian crossings near the school.

Pupil Parliament meeting
Colleagues from Settle’s Neighbourhoods team (left), PC Callum Ellis and PC Ensor, and Cllr Sean Prendergrast (far right) take part in a discussion with pupils about road safety and local issues.

Mrs Ruck, Headteacher at Garden City Academy, said:

We are so proud of our Pupil Parliament and how they presented their concerns regarding parking, driving speed and the lack of pedestrian crossings around our school. They felt proud to share these concerns with people who work in the community and have their voices heard. We are excited to continue to work hard to make the community safer for everyone.

Cllr Sean Prendergast wearing a lanyard, seated at a classroom table with Garden City Academy Pupil Parliament pupils, with pupils raising their hands.


Cllr Sean Prendergast welcomed the ideas raised and said:

It was inspiring to hear local pupils speak so passionately about making their streets safer. Their concerns are thoughtful and deserve to be taken seriously. We’ll be looking closely at the issues raised and working with partners to explore what improvements can be made.

Some actions are already being taken forward, including reporting faded yellow lines outside the school and exploring further road safety activity. This includes sharing resident feedback and supporting a request to Hertfordshire County Council to consider introducing a 20mph zone in the Jackmans neighbourhood.

We’ll continue working with residents, colleagues and local partners to build on the progress made. Please visit our Get Involved page to find out more about how we gather feedback and how we’re acting on what residents tell us. 

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