Our proposals to make school runs in Royal Greenwich safer and easier by expanding and confirming our borough’s network of School Streets have moved to statutory consultation.
Following engagement with residents between April and May last year, proposals for both existing School Streets and the first batch of proposed School Streets locations have now progressed to statutory consultation.
You can find out more here.
Councillor Sandra Bauer, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Post-16 Futures, said: “Local people have expressed concerns about dangerous, congested roads putting children, their families, school staff and residents in danger on a daily basis, so we’re doing something about it. School Streets give children and families one less thing to worry about on hectic mornings and busy afternoons by creating safer, more welcoming environments around schools across the borough.”
Councillor Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, Cabinet Member for Transport, Climate Change, Waste and Streets, said: “Many of us remember walking to or from school with our parents, stopping to play on the way, the little conversations we remember forever. But too many kids aren't able to make those memories, as parents worry the streets around schools are too busy. We're hoping to change that with these proposals for School Streets. As well as making the streets around schools safer, and with cleaner air, we hope these plans can encourage more families to walk, wheel, scoot or skate to school, giving our kids a calmer and more fun start and end to the school day. These plans will also ensure common sense flexibility residents and school staff, improving the experience around the start and end of the school day for everyone."
What are School Streets?
School Streets is a national initiative where roads close to motor vehicles either partially or entirely at peak school drop-off and pick-up times between Monday and Friday.
There are lots of potential benefits from establishing a School Street. These include:
- safeguarding children, families, teachers and residents from dangerous driving
- calmer, more welcoming environments around the borough’s schools
- improved air quality around schools by reducing idling and preventing through traffic, which impacts children more acutely than adults
- safer, greener, healthier travel across Royal Greenwich with more families choosing to walk, wheel, scoot, cycle or use public transport
School Streets would be managed by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras ensuring access for the Emergency Services if required.
The health and safety benefits of School Streets also help support a number of the Mayor of London’s objectives for transport across the capital. Easing congestion and decreased car use around the borough’s schools will contribute to the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Vision Zero campaign, which is targeting the eradication of road deaths in London by 2041.
School Streets also provide a great opportunity to embrace active travel and public transport, which will both improve the quality of the air we breathe and also help us work towards the Mayor’s target of 80% of Londoner’s journeys to be made on foot, bicycle or public transport by 2041.
We are proposing exemptions for residents on the School Streets, as well as exemptions for SEND Transport, carers, specified school staff, those with blue badges and the emergency services. This should create a calmer and safer environment around the start and end of the school day for all.
Submitting your views
Any objections or other representations relating to this statutory consultation must be submitted in writing, clearly stating the grounds on which the objection is being made. You must also quote the relevant Traffic Management Order (TMO) reference number.
TMO number: T8(26)
Email: schoolstreets@royalgreenwich.gov.uk
Postal address:
School Streets Team
The Woolwich Centre
35 Wellington Street
London
SE18 6HQ