School Streets schemes could be expanded

By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporter

Car traffic could soon be banned from driving outside three more schools in Bristol at the start and end of each school day. The School Streets schemes aim to make the road safer for pupils, cut air pollution near schools, and encourage families to walk and cycle.

The new proposals would see traffic restrictions outside schools including Fair Furlong Primary School in Hartcliffe. The restrictions would last 45 minutes in the morning and one hour in the afternoon.

Councillor Don Alexander, cabinet member for transport, said: “We are really ramping up our School Streets programme, and, if successful, these three new schools could bring our total number in Bristol up to 11. School Streets help to reduce parking, traffic congestion and air quality issues at the school gates, while improving road safety for children and their families.

“Our aim is to also encourage active travel, and getting people into the routine of walking, cycling and scooting from a young age will help embed this with our next generation.

“We hope people across these three areas support the proposals, which could transform the roads outside the schools, creating a more pleasant environment for everyone, while making sure residents, businesses, pedestrians and cyclists can still use the roads.”

Amy Sood, headteacher of Ashley Down Primary School, said: “We continue to encourage active travel to Ashely Down and can see the benefits this has to children and families in promoting exercise and reducing traffic congestion around the school. School Streets offer an opportunity to limit road usage around the school and create safer pavements.”

However, this was disputed by Cllr Hopkins who said the park departments told the community they were the only ones who had applied. Cllr Hopkins added it was “not in good faith to invent somebody new”.

Mr Rees said: “We’re always up for a conversation, but because as I understand it there’s more than one group potentially interested. We need a process and people need to work with the process so that everything is fair and above board, and people aren’t disadvantaged or led down a route that leads them to use their own resource and ultimately not get a return on their use of their resource. So that’s why we want to really stick to the process.”

Cllr Hopkins replied: “Firstly, they were the only applicants, and were told so by parks management. They were the only people who put interest in, in a partnership between them and the community garden. So to invent somebody new coming along now three years down the line is not very good faith.

“No doubt you will want to join us in congratulating [the coach] for what he’s achieved so far, but will you also apologise for this mess that’s left them without changing rooms for three years?”

The mayor did not deny he had “invented” another group applying for the community asset transfer, and then said the delays were due to short-staffing in the council.

Mr Rees said: “We have had a capacity issue in the team. We have recruited to that team now but we do have to work with the reality that the backroom capacity of the council has been challenged. Recently we put a recruitment freeze on as well because of the need to meet the financial envelope that we’re in, and that may have impacted. But the capacity is there now so hopefully people will get the communications that they were looking for.”