Nairn initiatives mark Walk to School Week.

A new zebra crossing and safer routes to school leaflet for children will be launched tomorrow Wednesday 23rd May in Nairn by Highland Councillor Liz MacDonald as part of national “Walk to School Week”.

The need for a safer crossing on Nairn High Street was highlighted by children at Rosebank and Millbank Primary schools in their joint school travel plan. Funding for the crossing was provided by The Highland Council’s Roads Safety Unit through their safer routes to schools project.

The official opening of the zebra crossing event will be filmed by “Sustrans” (the government organisation for sustainable transport) who are producing an educational DVD on school travel planning. Millbank and Rosebank are two of only eight schools in Scotland to be selected to feature in the DVD.

For the past two years children from Rosebank and Millbank have been working to increase the number of children walking and cycling to school and reduce car congestion. As part of this, the children have launched a “safer routes to school” leaflet.

A competition was run between the two schools to design a safer routes logo. The winning logo was designed by Jemma Bamforth and Iona Young, now in first year of Nairn Academy. These logos have been put on lamp posts throughout the town to highlight the safest routes to school. The children have also produced a leaflet to promote walking and cycling and raise awareness on road safety. This leaflet will be handed out to every child in Nairn.

Highland Council’s School Travel Coordinator, Ailsa Campbell, said: “This is a great example of partnership working and successful travel planning. Over the past three years Millbank and Rosebank Primary’s have increased their walking numbers by 13% and cycling numbers by 10%. This is due to the many initiatives the schools have introduced including cycle training, walk to schools week, Junior Roads Safety Officers and Park Smart. Nairn children are now among some of the most active in Highland region. I hope that this work will help inspire other schools in Highland region to do the same.”