Council to permanently ban school run traffic from nine streets

By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter

A council has confirmed that nine of its 10 new healthy school streets (HSS) will become permanent, banning all non-permitted vehicles entry during the busy school run hours.

From April 2022, Croydon council imposed 10 experimental traffic orders across the borough to tackle air pollution near schools and encourage more parents and pupils to walk to school. 

The experimental orders established distinct school pedestrian zones, which forbid motorised vehicles entering between 8am and 9am and again between 2pm and 4pm on school days during the academic year. 

Exemptions were made for public service and liveried vehicles, as well as those with permits and a valid blue badge. Anyone without a permit who drives down a school street during the designated times faces a £60 fine.

Residents, parents and schools were given a six-month consultation period, in which feedback and objections to the scheme could be given. 

Despite the overwhelming support shown from nine schools, Keston Primary School, in Coulsdon, was the only school to reject the introduction of a permanent HSS on Keston Avenue.

Residents and parents of children at Keston gave significant objections to the scheme due to the excess displaced traffic it caused to the nearby area. The school itself lodged a significant complaint about the scheme.

Keston’s current experimental traffic order will be withdrawn on October 21, while all other HSS will remain permanent from today onward.

Similar schemes have been rolled out across the country after a push from the central government to reduce congestion and traffic related injuries near schools. Croydon itself already had 14 permanent HSS active in the borough prior to this consultation.

According to the director of Public Health’s annual report 2017, ‘Croydon has the highest rate of hospital admissions for childhood (0-9 years) asthma and the third-highest number of asthma deaths in London.’  

It also noted: “205 premature deaths in Croydon are linked to air pollution”, and that “there are further health concerns associated with 40 per cent of children and 60 per cent of adults in Croydon being overweight.”

At the full cabinet meeting, Mayor Jason Perry approved the recommendation to make nine of the HSS’s permanent. 

Speaking to the cabinet, he said: “There was a definite reduction in traffic related issues to all streets but those in Keston.”

The list of schools due to see their HSS made permanent includes Ecclestone Primary School, St Thomas Becket Catholic Primary School, Harris Primary Academy Haling Park, Harris Primary Academy Croydon, Downsview Primary School, Christ Church CofE Primary School, Oasis Academy Ryelands, Ridgeway Primary School and St Joseph’s Catholic Junior School.

Pictured top: Traffic on Sandycombe Road (Picture: Charlotte Lillywhite)