AN INCIDENT which left a boy temporarily in a wheelchair has sparked concerns over road safety in Whitchurch.

Whitchurch Town Council met last month with chair John Buckley frustrated at how no action was to be taken by Hampshire County Council (HCC) following a school boy being injured in Alliston Way during the summer holidays.

The road is currently under a 20mph scheme which will continue, however the county council has said no to further measures in the road at this time.

Whitchurch Town Council chair John Buckley said: “Our 20mph scheme is to continue but HCC say no further schemes or extensions are to be implemented unless casualties occur.

“I find this disappointing as it ignores all the further benefits of safety initiatives in making places better to live within.

“Perhaps HCC can say how many casualties are needed to make a pattern? How many children need to be injured before action is taken?

“Cuts to our safety are not, in my opinion, acceptable as they are ultimately transferred elsewhere with higher costs to the hospitals, police and paramedics who attend the casualties such as that lad in Alliston Way.”

HCC’s environment and transport boss Rob Humby has responded to the issue saying an even further lowered speed limit would not have helped in this case.

Cllr Humby said: “Where evidence shows that putting in additional safety measures would help reduce accidents, the county council will look into this.

“However, in this case, the speed limit and highway layout were not considered to be a factor in the accident.

“I’m pleased to hear that the child is making a good recovery.

“We take each and every injury accident on the county council’s highway network very seriously, and our specialist safety engineers regularly analyse accident data, with the aim of identifying accident hotspots that we can make safer through targeted highway improvements.”