Harrow council have decided to concentrate their efforts on supporting the existing school street schemes, rather than starting new ones in the borough.
The council said that this is to ensure the current schemes work as effectively as possible and help improve road safety near schools.
This decision follows an initial engagement carried out with residents, parents and schools, to gather their views on the proposed schemes. Feedback received indicated there was insufficient support for the schemes at this time.
The six new experimental school streets were proposed for introduction at the following schools: Cedars Manor School, Roxbourne Primary School, Bentley Wood High School, Pinner Wood School, Camrose Primary School and St John Fisher Catholic Primary School.
The aim was to improve traffic and safety immediately outside the schools; however, concerns were raised about the impact on the surrounding roads and residents, which need to be considered before any of these schemes are physically put in place.
Leader of Harrow Council, Cllr Graham Henson, said: “We have listened to and understand residents’ views on the proposed schemes by engaging with them at an early stage of the project’s development. It is clear, there is little support for the additional schemes at this time, and so, the decision to not go ahead is the right one.”
“We consider road safety of paramount importance, so we shall look at different ways to achieve this priority, particularly in the streets surrounding our schools by working together with our residents, parents and schools.”
There are currently four other school street schemes in operation, which were introduced last year in the borough.
The four school streets will continue to be run through to Autumn, ahead of a full consultation, at which point the council will consider all of the evidence of what has worked well and what has not, so that they can apply this to the design of future schemes.
Source: Harrow Council
