PARENT power has helped persuade councillors to make the walk to school safer in Chobham by installing a new pedestrian crossing in the village.

A campaign led by local mum Naomi Gurdol won an agreement to spend around £120,000 on a signal-controlled crossing near the main entrance to St Lawrence School.

The expenditure was approved at the recent Surrey Heath Local Committee meeting, which has county and borough councillors as members. The committee has a budget for highways improvements in the borough.

The crossing will be installed in Bagshot Road, between the Co-op store and the junction with High Street, during the 2022-23 financial year, which starts next month.

Naomi and fellow campaigners have been pressing since the summer of 2020 for safe crossing points on village streets that are clogged with cars and lorries during school-run times.

They made a presentation to Chobham Parish Council highlighting the dangers of current crossing points, set up an online petition to the county that was signed by several hundred people and continuously lobbied councillors and highways officers for road-safety improvements.

“I’m really pleased that we have been taken notice of and the village will get at least one of the new crossings we want,” said Naomi, who will have a safe walking route all the way from her home in Brimshot Lane to the school. “Thanks to everyone who joined in the campaign for their continued support.”

The campaign to make all the local roads safer for pedestrians has not stopped. Next on the target list are pedestrian crossings in Station Road for people going to the recreation ground and in Chertsey Road, near the junction with High Street and Windsor Road.