Award for school travel

THORNBURY'S Castle School has won two awards for its efforts to persuade families to leave the car behind on the school run.

The school in Park Road became the first secondary in South Gloucestershire to win silver Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation and Recognition for Schools) accreditation, for promoting walking, scooting and cycling to school, last year. Now the work of staff, pupils and parents has won it both a South Gloucestershire and South West Regional award win for the best secondary school.

The school began working with Modeshift STARS two years ago, encouraging a change in attitudes and providing new facilities to make it easier to use alternative modes of transport.

Of the 3,500 schools across the country that signed up, it was one of the 125 schools to be nominated for the scheme's 2023 National Awards.

Deputy head teacher Katherine Wilson said: "This is an amazing achievement for us and is testament to all of the very hard work that the staff and the students have done to gain the Modeshift STARS accreditation.

"We would like to thank Catherine McCoy and various other members of the South Gloucestershire team who have supported us throughout this process and helped us to become the Regional winners.

"We are continuing to work on our Modeshift STARS Gold active travel plan and are only one initiative away from its completion."

The school's Active Travel Ambassadors and staff have now been invited to a presentation event, STARS Schools of the Region, and will represent the South West region at the National STARS School Travel Awards in London in June.

through traffic, it cannot claim that the changes, which have been in place for nearly three years, have made any improvement to the town’s trading economy or traffic flow.

“Anyone can see that the claims about more shoppers, walkers and cyclists are incorrect.”

The Association accuses the council of failing to publicly cost alternative plans, including twoway or one-way through traffic with timed parking bays.

Mr Reynolds added: "This is despite being offered these two alternatives in their Business Case, with the note that these would also allow the High Street to recover after lockdown. SGC went ahead with the most expensive and disruptive option, with predictably the worst results.”

They also say paving and tarmacking the entire street on one level will result in drainage problems resulting in possible flooding in Castle Street.

The Association has also criticised wording of the Thornbury Investment plan, which it says appear to have been “hastily and carelessly thrown together” and uses “meaningless spin-doctor vocabulary”.

South Gloucestershire Council introduced a temporary traffic ban in 2020 as a covid measure.

The year-long work will make that permanent, with only oneway traffic allowed for access only. There will be blue badge parking, cycle stands, benches, planters and a bus shelter.

A council spokesperson said the layout and street furniture had been designed “in collaboration with stakeholders including Thornbury in Bloom, Thornbury Town Council and our Accessibility and Equality working group, made up of local people with disabilities and representatives from community groups who with work with people with disabilities".

The spokesperson said: "Their feedback and insights are reflected in the mixture of seating, including traditional benches which reflect the town’s historic identity and the horseshoe seating, which meets the needs of the whole community.

“The location of the hanging baskets reflects the wishes of Thornbury in Bloom.

“People come to the High Street for a whole range of reasons - for shopping, to eat and drink, for health and beauty, to visit the library, or for services such as estate agents and accountants.

"The High Street is also a place where people come together, socialise, and join in community activities.

"We are creating a High Street that prioritises people.

"Our programme of investment into Thornbury will support a sustainable town centre that is fit for the future, improve air quality, make it easier for people to walk and cycle to and from the high street, and improve parking for residents, businesses and visitors."