Report of the Strategic Directors of Health and Wellbeing, Place and Acting Strategic Director of Children’s Services (Document “W”) will be submitted to the Committee to provide an update on School Streets projects and the development of a Play Streets approach within the Bradford district.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

(Sarah Exall, Andrew Smith, Michael Bunting)

(07582 102287/07970 828849)

The report of the Strategic Directors of Health and Wellbeing, Place and the Acting Strategic Director for Children’s Services (Document “W”) was submitted to the Committee to provide an update on Active Travel – School Streets and Play Streets from the last report that was submitted in 2020.

The aim of the project was intended to improve the safety and quality of the streets around 9 pilot schools in different areas of the District and to have a  positive impact on local residents, parents and children.

The project had been introduced following a motion at the Council meeting in July 2019 and was being explored by 3 key services; Health and Wellbeing, Place and Children’s Services.

Following the motion, a report was submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee with the proposals for the scheme and it was resolved that a further report be submitted on the outcome of the pilot.

School Streets proposed to address the congestion and pollution around schools at the start and finish of school days.  This involved a street being closed to traffic temporarily to encourage alternative modes of travel.  It was hoped that it would increase the numbers of children walking to school or using an alternative mode of travel for all or part of the journey to and from school.

There were a number of factors that were considered when choosing the pilot schools including the pre-existing air quality, highways constraints and engagement with Active Travel partners and ‘matched funding’ support.

Following consultation with the schools, residents and other stakeholders, the 9 schools began the pilot in June 2021.

Officers reported that there was a significant presence on site at the start of the scheme and zones were mostly well adhered to.  Positive feedback indicated that there was a feeling of better safety with a more pleasant and calmer environment.

Since the launch, however, it had become clear that signage was not enough and Officers were engaging with schools to see what can be done to sustain the project.

A representative from public health also attended and addressed the committee and reiterated the aims in terms of the safer and calmer start and finish to the school day.  Expectations needed to be managed and that traffic would be reduced but the issues would not be alleviated completely.  There was a concern that some drivers were complying but some were not, leading to potential conflict. 

Officers from Bradford were working in partnership with Tower Hamlets to bring school streets in to share best practice and ideas.  Traffic counts and surveys had been carried out before the start of the scheme and would be done again at the end of the pilot.  Children were also wearing sensors to monitor air quality and an evaluation of the scheme would be carried out at completion.

Play Streets – draft guidance had been drawn up but the scheme had not gone ahead due to Covid 19 but it would be reviewed.

Members were then given the opportunity to comment and ask questions, the details of which, and the responses given are as below.

·         A Member commented that the traffic was ‘school traffic’ but parents were driving children to school as they considered the journey was unsafe for them to walk.  There were laws relating to engine idling which had been around for some years but were not enforced.  It was a difficult message if parents were not interested and it was not enforced or drivers were not reminded about idling.  Parents wanted the improvements but did not want to do anything to achieve it.

·      Officers stated that it was a difficult situation when parents needed to be elsewhere but some had been trying to keep the scheme going.  It needed to become a behaviour change.  Children could be strong advocates to remind parents with the focus being on those making the change to recognise it and celebrate it, rather than focussing on the negative.  Expectations on what was possible also needed to be managed.

·         A member asked how schools who wished to introduce School Streets could do it.

·      Officers advised that constraints existed and highways would need to approve it and that they were already aware of the particular school in question

·         The issue of the impact of the scheme was raised, how to police school streets zones and how to safeguard children who walk to school

·      Officers stated that there needed to be a realistic view of what could be achieved in the vicinity of schools that could still provide relatively convenient places to park and walk.  There had been little time to carry out surveys and evidence would need to be collated from all programmes as there was not a great deal of data available at the present time but the pilot would provide an opportunity to learn from it.

·         In relation to the positive feedback gained initially, what had happened since?

·      Officers stated that there had been a lot of presence on site when the schemes started but compliance had since dropped along with this.   With only the police having enforcement powers, it needed to be encouraged rather than enforced

·         The aim was to work towards safe and clean routes but if roads were closed and behaviour had not changed, was the traffic problem simply being shifted?  Idling was still an issue, even if was 2 streets away and enforcement was not happening unless by the Council

·      Officers stated that each site was unique but with traffic diverted it did dilute traffic problems.  The school gate was where pollution and idling were concentrated so moving it away was an important factor

·         How was work being done with schools to encourage parents to take part, had a rewards system been considered, as children’s health was the key factor

·      Officers stated that a rewards system had not been considered and as the fault was not the child’s it would not be an appropriate option.  No idling campaign had been carried out and was being looked at for the next set of school streets

·         Not all children attended their local school due to allocation of places, had any conversations taken place with admissions?

·      Even with school streets in place, parking was still relatively close to schools

In response to a comment relating to village schools and children attending from outside the immediate area, it was stated that the scheme had yet to be evaluated.  There also needed to be a behaviour change to tackle childhood obesity which was estimated to be slightly higher than national figures.

Resolved –

1.    That the report be noted

2.    That a further update on School Streets projects, to include information on the development of a Play Streets policy, be added to the Committee’s 2022/23 programme of work.

Action: Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing, Strategic Director, Place and Acting Strategic Director, Children Services.