Greens leader on Trafford Council, Cllr Michael Welton, was addressing the authority’s executive during discussions on an expected deficit of £9.84m in its finances for 2024/25.
It has been suggested that installing pelican crossings instead of using lollipop officers might lead to a saving of £100,000 for the authority.
Sacking existing lollipop men and women is not part of the plan, said executive member for highways, environmental and traded services Cllr Stephen Adshead.
He explained: “We are not scrapping all school crossing patrols [lollipop men and women]. The problem is that over many years we’ve struggled to fill those vacancies – at any one time there are up to 15 vacancies. It is a role that seems to be dying out – people don’t want to do that job anymore.
“So what we’re having to do is consider [pelican] crossings as an alternative. We’ve lobbied members to see how we could advertise these roles and if members have any ideas, please let us know.”
However, Cllr Welton suggested lowering the speed limit near schools and a further roll-out of the ‘school streets’ scheme in Trafford where roads outside schools are closed during drop off and pick up times to increase safety for schoolchildren.
He said: “I know that pelican crossings are quite capital intensive so I’m quite surprised to see a £100,000 saving on that.
“It seems like a very old-school way of looking at, saying that pelican crossings are the alternative.
“There are also things like school streets and low traffic neighborhoods and 20mph limits that you could also look at to improve safety outside schools.
“And actually, with a 20mph limit, we might find some of the positions for road crossings officers more likely to get filled because it would be a more pleasant job, if you’re not having to stop vehicles moving at high speed. This might be cheaper than pelican crossings.
Council leader Cllr Tom Ross responded by saying: “You explore all options. You’ll know that we are very passionate about school streets. The mayor of Greater Manchester [Andy Burnham] is very keen to see more school streets and I know there is a demand from schools around this as well.”