Rushden Research Group: Education - Access to Denfield Park School

Article from Evening Telegraph, Friday, May 6th 1977
presented by Karon Rice from Bob Whitworth's press cuttings

Denfield Park - New School - But where's the way in?

Access Rumpus as building goes on.

When the new Rushden Eastfield School - which will cater for 320 junior pupils opens in September, it looks as if there will be access from Victoria Road, despite opposition to this going back almost two years.
Spearheading the opposition is East Northants County Council, whose Rushden Sub Committtee, along with the Rushden and Higham Ferrers Road Safety committe, stress that Victoria Road cannot cope with any additional traffic in Rushden.
The trouble has been that whilst objections had been put forward , no suitable alternative has been worked out. While the arguing has been going on the building of the school and the stess question urgently needs an answer.

USE

Victoria Road area were up in arms over the possible use of the road as a means of access to the school.The road comprises residential and commercial properties, is narrow, lacks turning space and is already considerably used for parking of vehicles to the detriment of occupiers.
The district council were concerned about the possible use of the road access and told the county that it was unsuitable. They were also against a permanent access from the garages to the east of the council estate.
In November 1976 the district council heard a detailed report on various suggestions made by the county, but found none of them satisfactory. They thought that any use of Victoria Road which would worsen existing intolerable traffic should be resisted.

What the East Northants Council wanted was access from Windsor Road. Rushden and Higham Ferrers Road Safety Committee wanted the council to press for a one-way loop road system linking Victoria Road and Windsor Road, but the council did not agree with them.
As the building was continuing, the county held a special meeting in an attempt to thrash out the access problem. Among those there were the education committee councillor Mrs D.B.Oxenham, district council representative , and police.
It was again stressed that the access question was an urgent one. It was also made clear that the catchment area of the school would involve one-third of the places being filled from the Upper Queen Street area and the Washbrook Road area, which empasised the difficulties concerning the number of vehicles likely to be used to take children to and from school. These were also problems of children crossing the trunk road.

ROAD

The county said that for economic reasons there was no chance of the loop idea being adopted and that there was little chance of access from Windsor Road.
Station Yard, off Rectory Road was suggested as a possible place for for vthe parking by parents delivering and collecting children with the construction of a footpath and vehicular access to serve the school site.
Because the problem had not been resolved, it looks as if Victoria Road will be used to provide some form of access, even if this is only temporary.

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