to ask if you've heard of School Streets, and whether you think it's a good idea?

[Toomuchstuffwillkillme]

I just caught a bit of 'Clean Air for Kids' on R4 about School Streets in Hackney. Had not heard about it. (Must listen to whole programme properly in a bit!)
Seems like the sort of thing we should all be thinking about? I appreciate actually getting car-loving parents on board might be difficult, and there are probably a lot of issues that would need ironing out, but worth a try?
hackney.gov.uk/article/4379/School-streets

They're not sitting in their classrooms breathing it in given that everybody is gone by 8.50am.

There's actually a petrol station at one side of my sons school and a car garage on the other, so they'd have to get rid of those too. Or stop people using them during school run times.

As I said, badly thought through.

It wouldn't bother me if they did this because we park in a side road anyway and walk a few minutes, but given that there are 5 primary schools clustered together in a few streets, they'd have to close off the whole area, essentially moving the 'problem' elsewhere.

They're not sitting in their classrooms breathing it in given that everybody is gone by 8.50am.

The fumes collect inside the classrooms. You may be gone, but your pollution remains.

And A roads that are trunk roads between major towns? I can see that working well.

Quite. One of my relatives lives near a rural school that’s right on an A road. Close that road at the school, and it’d be about a 40 mile detour to get from one side of the school to the other by car.

It’s not an idea that’s going to work for every single school.

Vulpine, I've read your views about other people's interests.

We are in Scotland where the picture is slightly different. Catchment areas are fixed. In towns, cities and the suburbs, 99% of people will be within walking distance of their local school. If you've elected not to go to your local school and asked for your child to be placed elsewhere, then the obvious consequence to that is that you are further away.

Everyone in catchment for our Primary could walk / scoot / cycle. But they don't. I leave for work at 8.45 twice a week and as I'm driving away from school, I pass people coming towards school. People who I know. I know where they live and what they do for a living. Most of them are not busily dropping their children at school then rushing off to work. They do not have mobility problems. They are simply too lazy to walk.

There is also a large-ish car park about 300m from school. Parents drive right past it, in order to stop on yellow lines outside the school gate, block people's drives, double park.

Everyone on MN has a reason/excuse. Hardly likely that someone is going to post that yes, they're a lazy sod or selfish fucker who doesn't want to walk. But there are lots of them around.

Leaving earlier makes no difference if you’ve got to get work. Most schools don’t let children in early, at DDs school you can drop off from 8.45am, if you’ve then got to walk several streets back to your car you’ll be late for work. Yes there are breakfast clubs but they cost money.

Walking busses are good in places where a lot of the children live in the same area. DDs school used to have a couple, unfortunately they folded due to lack of volunteers to help run them.

I think this is a great idea. It reduces the level of pollution around the school. Little children get to breathe in more fresh air.

Also can’t understand the excuse that pedestrians somehow cause accidents by expecting drivers to obey the law.

Spikey - fab!

So I can see that you think that only certain people matter.

Great idea. We need to reduce air pollution, get children to do more exercise, and improve road safety around schools. Any individual excuses are selfish.
People always use the disabled as an excuse. School run traffic is a huge issue for the disabled so don't try and pretend it benefits them!
Most primary schools have no more than a handful of disabled children who can have exceptions made.
Many disabled adults can't drive and their lives would be far better if they could get down pavements that aren't blocked by school run cars.
Yes this will cause a little inconvenience but it will be worth it for the benefits.
The zone will need to be fairly big to avoid just displacing traffic to nearby streets though.

I don’t know what the solution is to this problem then. There are a lot of nay sayers on this thread, and it would be great to hear from them what would work.

I think people having ridiculous commutes is a big problem. I remember when there were a lot of snow days, so many teachers just couldn’t make it because they travelled so far. They talked about implementing a scheme where teachers could to walk to their local school and teach there. Why can teachers just work in a nearby school as a rule?

Everyone is so desperate to have/ keep their job that they are prepared to travel stupid distances, and run to such tight schedules (whilst apparently working ‘flexibly’) that walking to school seems completely impossible.

I’m not judging people for wanting a job! I just wish the employment environment didn’t have to be so competitive that people are prepared to do things which are bad for them and the planet to keep themselves afloat.

This may work for schools which are on side roads etc but my school is on a busy thoroughfare, and just off an even busier one. To stop traffic for any tine in that road would cause major issues for all manner of people, and cause build ups around the area and into town.
We know this as the road was closed for a day or two recently due to a leak and it was chaos.

Blue badge holders are exempt

Lots of very defensive people here. And no I don’t mean those with mobility impairments who need to drive or those in rural areas where the primary school you’re allocated might be miles away and where air pollution is less likely an issue than in urban / suburban areas anyway.

Where I live the catchment areas for primary schools are about 0.5 mile. And many parents get in to the ‘good schools’ and then move too far away to walk. It’s also an area with good public transport links so that doesn’t apply. Most parents could and should be walking.

We live on the same road as a private school and I worry about the impact of air pollution on my children. Not to mention the diabolical standard of driving and parking that goes on.

We walk a route between home, son’s state school, nursery and the station and yes we could probably do it quicker in the car but we leave earlier and walk because it’s (a) good for us, (b) avoids the stress of trying to park, (c) better for the environment. The standard of driving and parking outside my son’s state school is of a same low standard as the private school on our road so there’s no prejudice on that score ...

"Why can teachers just work in a nearby school as a rule?"

Assuming you mean't can't, many teachers cannot afford to live close to the school they work in. They have partners and their commute to consider. Some teachers are on short term contracts and can't be expected to move every year. Some staff are only employed on the basis of a particular child being a school.

Why can teachers just work in a nearby school as a rule?

Take a look at many MN threads regarding teachers.
Many teachers don't want to live in catchment where their pupils and parents are their local neighbours. Unable to relax in their social tone without being seen and watched. Sometimes it's bad enough just in the same town!

Do you then have to move home if you change your school?

And you then end up with your own child at your school - not everyone wants that.

It is very difficult to qualify for a blue badge. The criteria for a blue badge would need to be widened considerably to make this not discrimatory.

To be fair most parents do not have 3 schools to drop off at every morning.

It is very difficult to qualify for a blue badge. The criteria for a blue badge would need to be widened considerably to make this not discrimatory.

What are you on about? Please explain how fewer cars on the road will be detrimental to adults and children with mobility issues.

this discussion reminds me a lot of the moaning that was about before the plastic bag charge was brought in.

People hate change. It warms the cockles of my pollution ridden heart when I see people walking or cycling their kids to school.

Our primary has started sending out guilt letters to try to get parents to stop idling their cars at pickup & drop off. It hasn’t worked as far as I can see. Am constantly amazed that adults will choose convenience over their own children’s well being.

I wonder if walking buses combined with local drop off points would work? So each school has say six drop off points (drop off at 8.15-30ish). Something like a local pub car park would be ideal as the pub is unlikely to be full of customers at school drop/pick up.

Parents drop off at the pub car park. Less congestion as the whole school isn’t congregating on one point at one time. Bonus, drop off is earlier so less panic rushing to work after. And the kids get some exercise twice a day.

They all walk to school together, kids who live on the route can join as the ‘bus’ passes. Parents volunteer x times per term or pay y amount to cover paid help. The local pub/whatever should be smart enough to run a schools out special on an early evening/baby group morning/etc etc which pays back the minor inconvenience to them. Everyone wins.

Obviously it will never happen.

I couldn't walk the 5 minutes to our local school for 3 years until the council decided that I really was disabled enough to have a blue badge