What a good example of local democracy, young people getting involved in their local community and learning at the same time.
Those people who know best about how to make their local roads safer are the children who walk or cycle to and from school every day.
Eight and nine year olds at Alphington school had the idea of compiling a dossier of danger spots and presenting it to me when I visited them.
I passed it on to the local councillors responsible for roads and they appear to have taken the ideas on board.
It would be nice if similar initiatives could be repeated in other schools in the city.
I was appalled to hear last week of a high school in Devon that bans its pupils from cycling to school.
Recent reports show that growing obesity is one of the most serious health threats facing the nation.
This is partly due to diet, but mainly a lack of physical exercise. Children who get into the habit of taking regular exercise tend to be healthier as adults as well.
Many parents and good schools like Alphington would like children to walk or cycle to school but are worried about road safety.
Where safe routes to schools have been created the numbers of pupils walking or cycling have risen dramatically.
The series of improvements proposed for Alphington should help. But the engineers and planners involved should continue to consult with local people and children in particular. Too often good ideas for pedestrian or cycling improvements are spoilt by bad design or poor execution.
I look forward to seeing the improvements when I next visit the school � by bike, of course!
