Moray Council’s new leadership has set its sights on reversing a controversial decision to scrap school crossing patrollers.
The authority’s previous independent and Conservative administration decided to halve the amount of staff at crossings across the region earlier this year.
However, the SNP group, which took control of the council last week, is now attempting to overturn the decision.
An urgent report is expected to be presented to a full council meeting next week to reinstate some of the staff who were due to be axed after the summer holidays.
Speyside Glenlivet councillor Louise Laing has pressed for the changes to be re-examined in Aberlour and Rothes due to the amount of lorries travelling through the villages.
She said: “This is an issue of road safety for communities across Moray and I hope that other councillors will recognise that.
“The SNP said at the budget that this was not acceptable and we voted against the proposals to halve the number of patrollers.
“There is now an opportunity for councillors to review that decision.”
The original ruling, made in February, would have led to patrollers being removed from all lunchtime duties across the region from August.
A total of 18 of the 36 sites would have had staff removed entirely, including from morning and afternoon duties, where there were also traffic lights. The proposals were expected to save £118,000.
At the time, Moray Council stressed the level of assistance for students would remain “considerably more” than the legal requirement – stressing that it was the responsibility of parents to get their children to school.
However, council leader Graham Leadbitter believes many families remain uneasy about the changes.
He said: “The removal of half the crossing patrollers across Moray has caused real concern in our communities and we want that decision reviewed.
“We have asked for an urgent report to come up at next week’s full council and will be seeking the support of other councillors to review this in good time for the new school term in August.”
