School streets programme to continue
The school streets trial at five primary schools in the county will continue but will now be operated with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras from today (29 November).
Oxfordshire County Council has been trialling school streets during the 2023/24 school year. This involved timed road closures with volunteers operating pop-up gates close to school entrances at start and finish times. The aim is to reduce the volume of motor vehicles during drop-off and pick-up times, creating a safer environment for children, parents, and teachers to walk or cycle to school.
Manor primary school in Didcot, and Tyndale Community, St Mary and St John Church of England, Sandhills Community and New Hinksey Church of England primary schools in Oxford have been trialling school streets during 2024.
Councillor Andrew Gant, Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “It is fantastic news that school streets have made such a positive difference to school start and finish for these schools. These are two of the busiest times of the day for schools and for families – filled with hustle and bustle, trying to remember and coordinate everything with multiple time pressures to meet.
“The school street creates a quieter road that provides a calmer and more welcoming environment where children and their families and carers can socialise and enjoy the moment helping set them up for a brighter rest of day.”
The school streets tackle some of the pressures of school-run traffic, supporting the county council’s commitments to improve Oxfordshire’s carbon impacts and to reduce the pressure on the county’s road network.
The formal decision to install ANPR cameras as the next progression of the school streets trial was made at the county council’s cabinet member meeting on 5 September 2024.
ANPR cameras have been installed at the school street entry points over recent weeks to help operate the scheme consistently without reliance on a volunteer team. The cameras will operate only during set school drop-off and pick-up times, on school days only and covering only the entry point.
Blue badge holders and residents near the school gates can still drive through during these times should they need to. Residents and businesses in the school street locations have received letters on how to apply for their vehicle exemptions and when their school street ANPR cameras will become operational.
The county council’s school street webpages also provide a full of list of exempt vehicles – which includes residents, local businesses, blue badge holders and carers – and details on how to register an exemption.
The county council welcomes interest from more schools in trialling a school street.
More information
More information about school streets:
- School streets programme to install ANPR cameras
- Full report to cabinet.
- Local Transport and Connectivity Plan.
- Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure plan.
- School streets (including details of existing school street locations and operating times, and exemptions).
- ANPR cameras are triggered by vehicles (not people) entering a set trigger area – in which case they photograph the vehicle’s licence/ registration plate details, and an automatic notice is issued if that registration is not on the school street’s exempted list. They do not record continuously.
- School streets are a part of the vision set out in Oxfordshire County Council’s Local Transport and Connectivity Plan to deliver a net-zero Oxfordshire transport and travel system that enables the county to thrive while protecting the environment and making Oxfordshire a better place to live for all residents.
- Four primary schools in the county previously trialled their phase one school streets with the support of Oxfordshire County Council under the UK government’s active travel initiative since 2021. Larkrise, St Ebbe’s and Windmill schools in Oxford and St Nicolas school in Abingdon were the first schools in the county to successfully implement permanent school streets. They trialled volunteer-led pop-up gates before progressing to ANPR use.
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