Have your say on Hackney’s tenth School Street
Hackney’s tenth School Street could be coming to Queensbridge Primary School, after a consultation was launched today.
If implemented, it could see part of Albion Drive (between Queensbridge Road and Albion Square) closed to motor traffic at school opening and closing times, improving air quality and making it easier for kids to walk and cycle to school.
The School Street would be Hackney’s tenth, with monitoring from the first five showing significant reductions in traffic and improvements in air quality as a result of the scheme.
The Council recently announced it would bring forward by a year its commitment to launching 17 School Streets by 2022. Following that, it will roll School Streets out to all primary schools in the borough, unless they opt out.
When the Council passed a climate emergency motion, we pledged to do everything in our power to rapidly move away from a society underpinned by fossil fuels. Not only are cars one of the largest sources of planet-heating gases, their pollution also has serious impacts on the health of those exposed to it; particularly the developing lungs of young children.
School Streets play an important role in activity discouraging car pollution and its impacts by preventing parking outside schools at pick-up and drop-off times. That’s why I’d urge parents and children to have their say on our latest School Street proposal, which, combined with our new protected cycle lanes on Queensbridge Road, will also help make it easier for children and their parents to walk and cycle to school.
Queensbridge Primary School has declared a climate emergency, with a launch event on Friday 6 March after school. Parents will also be able to ask about the School Street proposals at the event.
Hackney Council produced a toolkit last year to help other areas introduce School Streets, and also runs training sessions for other local authorities. It also won a National Transport Award in the autumn for its work on School Streets.
To have your say in the consultation, or to find out more about School Streets, visit: www.hackney.gov.uk/school-streets.
Residents in the local area will receive paper copies of the consultation document.