Northop residents vote on whether or not to build puffin crossing in village

Feb 25 2010 by Francesca Elliott, Flintshire Chronicle

Northop residents vote on whether or not to build puffin crossing in village

NORTHOP residents have been busy getting their views across on whether they support a new puffin crossing in the village.

More than 250 people attended an exhibition day at the Edith Bankes Memorial Hall to cast their vote on whether or not they wanted a new crossing on the A5119, and if so, where it should go.

The two original sites proposed were south of Church Road outside the antique shop or outside the Red Lion pub.

But following an independent safety audit it was decided the Church Road site was the most viable.

Gerwyn Powell, traffic services manager for the county council, said: “If the questionnaires we collect today show that a crossing in Northop is what people want, then we will look at finding money in the next financial year.”

Northop resident Linda Davies says she’s very keen for a pedestrian crossing.

She said: “My little girl attends the nursery in the memorial hall and we have awful trouble crossing the road.

“When she goes to school in the future it will give me peace of mind to know that she will be crossing the road safely.”

Harry Hughes of Northop agreed, and said: “It’s a big problem for the people of Northop trying to cross that busy road, it’s dangerous.

“I think the speed limit should be reduced to 20mph through the village as well as having a crossing.”

Northop county councillor Marion Bateman was delighted with the turnout.

She said: “It’s good to see democracy in action and the number of people who came to the exhibition shows how passionate the people of Northop are about this issue.

“The votes are being counted this week, so we’ll soon know whether Northop is to get a crossing or not.”