‘Matter of time before child is hurt’

Sinn Féin Councillor for the Waterside, Christopher Jackson, issued the warning after it was confirmed that the Department for Infrastructure’s Roads division is to introduce waiting restrictions on the Dungiven Road outside the Good Shepherd Primary School.

At a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Environment & Regeneration Committee, Colr. Jackson said he welcomed the development but said it was not going to address the problem unless it was rigorously enforced.

He suggested traffic attendants should be deployed to the area to ensure that it is.

“People are parking on the footpaths and it is putting children’s lives at risk,” he remarked.

SDLP Colr. Gus Hastings, a member of the Good Shepherd Board of Governors, said: “Colr. Jackson is right, it‘s been going on a lone time.”

But he felt it better to review the effectiveness of the restrictions after am initial trial period.

“I’d like to see it in operation before I would pass comment on it,” said the SDLP representative..

But Colr. Jackson said enforcement was key: “We are talking about children’s safety. It is only a matter of time before a child is hurt.”