List of Shropshire schools taking part in 'school streets' trial to enforce restrictions during school drop-off
Shropshire Council will carry out an 18-month school streets scheme trial at six primary schools across the county, in an attempt to improve traffic flow and parking pressures outside schools.
Two schools in the Oswestry area, one in Shrewsbury, one in Bridgnorth, one in Market Drayton and one in Whitchurch will take part in the scheme.
It will see Shropshire Council apply for powers to enforce restrictions on parking and waiting outside school gates in pedestrianised areas using APMR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition). Permit holders will be exempt
The six schools taking part in the trial are: Gobowen Primary School; Market Drayton Junior School; Woodside Primary School, Oswestry; Mereside Primary School, Shrewsbury; Whitchurch Junior School and Castlefields Primary School, Bridgnorth. A trial is already being carried out at Coleham Primary in Shrewsbury.
A six-week consultation will be carried out with residents living near each of the six schools, as part of the approval process for obtaining ‘moving traffic offences’ powers.
The School Streets scheme will be funded by a Department for Transport grant and is estimated to cost approximately £31,000 for schools with one camera and £62,000 for schools with two cameras.
Statistics from the DFT reveal that 14 per-cent of children killed on Great Britain’s roads in 2018 were between the morning school run of 7-9am and 23 per-cent after school between 3-5pm.
A report from insurer Admiral shows a 43 per-cent fall of road collisions during the holidays at school run time.
Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for children and education, said: “School Streets have been rolled out across the UK for several years. We already have one at Coleham Primary in Shrewsbury – implemented using coronavirus powers – and I now look forward to adding more to the list, using this new legislation.”
"The results of the 18-month trial will then be presented to cabinet with the intention of rolling out the scheme further if successful.
A council spokesman said: "Where traffic is restricted on roads outside schools at pick-up and drop-off times during term-times, school streets make it safer and easier for children to walk, scoot and cycle to school.
"This reduces children’s exposure to air pollution on part of their journey to school and from cars with idling engines outside the school gates.
"Any surplus arising from enforcement of school streets will be reinvested back into the School Streets project to enable the continued roll out across the county."
