Four years after Wandsworth Council promised a zebra crossing outside a West Hill primary school, then built a different one nearby instead, parents are asking for the crossing they were originally promised.
A petition on the council’s website calls for a zebra crossing on Victoria Drive, outside Our Lady Queen of Heaven RC Primary School, to give pupils, parents and churchgoers a safe place to cross.
The crossing is not a new idea. In March 2022, the council named this exact location in a press release, announcing plans for a zebra crossing on Victoria Drive “designed to improve safety for children attending Our Lady Queen of Heaven primary school.” It formed part of a £5m programme of street improvements across the borough.
That crossing was never built. The other works announced at the same time went ahead. But in West Hill, a crossing was installed instead on Withycombe Road, around the corner: a crossing that the council points to as the safe route for the school.
The petitioners say however that after four years of the council-enforced solution, it simply doesn’t work. To reach the Withycombe Road crossing from the school, they argue, pedestrians must first cross the Princes Way junction, a busy slip road with restricted visibility close to the A3. The result, they say, is that families have to cross one dangerous road to reach the crossing meant to keep them safe.
The petition asks for a dedicated crossing on Victoria Drive itself, along with additional warning signs.
The 2022 announcement was made under the council’s previous Conservative administration, six weeks before it lost control to Labour in the May 2022 elections. The plans did not survive the change. Four years on, with the substitute crossing in place and in daily use, the school and parents say the original problem remains.
It is not the first time local parents have used the petition process to win a crossing at the school gate. Earlier this year, a parent secured a new zebra crossing on Felsham Road after a nine-month campaign through the same system.
The process does not always deliver. A 2025 council report found a Putney traffic petition had been the most ignored of the year. But the Felsham Road outcome shows it can work when enough residents sign.
If the petition reaches the council’s signature threshold, it triggers a formal council response. To sign, visit the Wandsworth ePetition page and register or log in to the council’s system. The petition closes on 4 August 2026. To contact your ward councillors in support, find their details at wandsworth.gov.uk.
