Agenda item

Purpose: To respond to a Motion, proposing a range of safety and environmental improvements outside schools, which was presented to Council by Councillor Erik Pattenden in March 2020.

Resolved that:

·         The measures proposed in Councillor Pattenden’s Motion may be appropriate in certain circumstances in some locations but should not be implemented as a single initiative;

·         The Council continues to implement road safety and environmental improvements outside schools on the basis of identified local needs as part of the annual capital programme;

·         The Council continues to invest in highway infrastructure that promotes and enables active travel, especially to schools, as part of the annual capital programme;

·         The Council continues to work with schools to deliver road safety initiatives to equip children with the skills and knowledge required to travel to school safely, especially on foot or by bicycle or scooter. The Council should also evaluate the extent to which schools are aware of and engaged with these services;

·         The Council continues to promote active travel to school, which by reducing reliance on car-based transport will lead to an improvement in local air quality and improve the health, fitness and mental wellbeing of children;

·         The Council continues to monitor air quality across the district and to engage with schools to promote initiatives to reduce vehicle idling.

This decision is eligible to be ‘called-in’.  However, if the decision has not been ‘called-in’ by 5.00pm on 29 December 2020, then it will be implemented.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 9) concerning the response to the Motion proposing a range of safety and environmental improvements outside schools which was presented to Council by Councillor Erik Pattenden in March 2020.

Councillor Richard Somner confirmed that this report had taken some time and considerable resource to complete due to the complexity of the issues raised. This was the reason for commissioning an independent report from WSP. This report had been discussed at the Transport Advisory Group in October. 

Councillor Somner felt that the report was both factual and honest. It identified the work already undertaken by the Council and work that it continued to do. It also gave direction on areas to be focused on further into the future. It was important to ensure that Education colleagues were fully aware of the resources and support that was available to them.

Councillor Steve Ardagh-Walter seconded the report. He stated that the issues raised within it overlapped with many other issues in particular traffic congestion around schools which was certainly a big issue in his ward and general road safety. The issues in the report were complex and he looked forward to the results from this and any follow on work that would take place.

Councillor Erik Pattenden said that the point of the Motion had been to bring all of the issues under the umbrella of safer schools. If the Council was already doing some of those things in other disparate areas the focus of a safer school did not exist and he asked if that focus could be provided to the initiatives that were already underway. Councillor Somner did not agree with the word ‘disparate’ as there was a programme of works through the department that included liaison with other departments. Highways and Transport would continue to work with the Education Team. The issue was that some of the work that was undertaken was not necessarily solely for the benefit of schools. If the focus was on one area then it was possible that need in other areas would be overlooked and that would be remiss as road safety applied to everyone across the district. Schools would be an important part of that but it was only a part of it. Traction could be gained by making sure that work could be done across the district which was surely the better approach particularly in the current climate. For example the motion suggested that car sharing was an option for schools but mixing families together to get them to school would not be best practice at present. It was essential that the Council was able to adapt but part of that came from being able to provide that resource or methodology across the wider area.

Councillor Adrian Abbs gave an example of how being disparate was an issue within the Council when two departments were not communicating with each other. Efforts needed to be made to ensure this was avoided.

Councillor Tony Vickers noted that at one time there had been a dedicated School Travel Plan Officer post who had worked with schools and he wished that that could be reintroduced. He agreed that the last nine months had been difficult for schools and therefore they had not been able to give this the priority it needed but he hoped that going forward it might become possible. The Government advice was to promote active travel and starting with schools was the best place to start as it would build habits of a lifetime into travel from home to work i.e. walking or cycling. Each individual school was in a different environment and he felt that having a dedicated Officer to pull all this together with support from Highways Officers would be beneficial. 

Councillor Somner agreed with the officer comment made in the report in relation to this point. Discussion needed to take place between Public Health and Education Officers to take work forward, and he would ensure this took place.

RESOLVED that:

(1)       The measures proposed in Councillor Pattenden’s Motion might be appropriate in certain circumstances in some locations but should not be implemented as a single initiative;

(2)       The Council would continue to implement road safety and environmental improvements outside schools on the basis of identified local needs as part of the annual capital programme;

(3)       The Council would continue to invest in highway infrastructure that promoted and enabled active travel, especially to schools, as part of the annual capital programme;

(4)       The Council would continue to work with schools to deliver road safety initiatives to equip children with the skills and knowledge required to travel to school safely, especially on foot or by bicycle or scooter. The Council should also evaluate the extent to which schools were aware of and engaged with these services;

(5)       The Council would continue to promote active travel to school, which by reducing reliance on car-based transport would lead to an improvement in local air quality and improve the health, fitness and mental wellbeing of children;

(6)       The Council would continue to monitor air quality across the district and to engage with schools to promote initiatives to reduce vehicle idling.

Other options considered:

Each of the specific suggestions made in Councillor Pattenden’s Motion were considered by the consultants and discussed with Council Officers, with comments as to the feasibility of each being made in the report in Appendix A.