The co-leader of The Green Party, Jonathan Bartley, has thrown his support behind an Altrincham teenager’s campaign to improve a dangerous road crossing.
Eleanor Horner, a 13-year-old student at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, started a petition because many children walking to school find it difficult to cross the A56 near St Margaret’s Church in Altrincham.
With the help of local Green Party councillors Dan Jerrome and Geraldine Coggins, she collected over 600 signatures from concerned locals, enough to allow her petition be debated at the next full Trafford Council meeting this Wednesday, March 20th.
Bartley visited Altrincham for the Green Party’s local election campaign launch, which took place at the Old Market Tavern earlier this month.
Introducing Eleanor to a packed crowd, Bartley said: “It took me until I was 47 years old to address a council meeting, but Eleanor is going to do it aged just 13. I hope that she will one day be a councillor, an MP or even Prime Minister.”
Michael Welton, Green candidate for Altrincham in the local elections on May 2nd, said: “Busy roads like the A56, on otherwise safe routes, deter parents from allowing their kids to walk or cycle to school. We need more safe crossing points for pedestrians, properly segregated bike lanes and lower traffic speeds. Only then will people choose to walk or cycle, with all the benefits that will bring in terms of safety, air pollution, climate change and healthy lifestyles.”
