A School Street is an initiative that closes the road to traffic briefly at key drop off and collection times at the school, creating a much safer environment with improved air quality. Children can walk to school without experiencing gridlock and idling vehicles, dangerous driving, anti-social behaviour and toxic fumes. School Streets create a healthier environment for everyone. They’re not new - there are already 800 across London and are a tried and tested solution. Residents are exempt and can come and go as they please. Businesses can also apply for exemptions.

Following a consultation with residents, businesses and schools, Waltham Forest implement school streets as a trial initially, then review after 6-9 months to allow for any adjustments, unforeseen operational issues etc.

School Streets operate at school drop off and pick up time, Monday-Friday during term time. It is likely that traffic would be restricted from 8am-9am and 3pm-4pm.

Residents and businesses within the School Street zone can all still use the street during restricted hours. If anything, using your car as a resident should be easier as there would be a fraction of the cars on the road.

No. Residents on the School Street will need to apply for an exemption but no payment is required.

Yes, vehicles already parked in the roads before the times of operation will be able to exit.

Blue Badge holders, registered carers and visitors to the doctors can all still use the street during restricted hours. All exemptions need to be applied for. A School Street actually makes it much easier for those who really need to drive and park.

Tradespeople working on an address within a School Street can get an exemption. Either yourself or the tradesperson simply need to contact the council to provide the address and vehicle registration.

School Streets are statistically proven to reduce the overall amount of cars on the road. By making it less convenient for people to drive to school they encourage more sustainable modes of transport such as walking and cycling. For those that still need to drive children to school, we expect traffic to be dispersed over a wide area rather than concentrated outside the school gates. We will work with schools to communicate with those parents to park safely without obstructing residents on neighbouring streets.

The objective of the School Street is to make the school run safer, healthier and more enjoyable for the whole community, not to penalise parents. For those who need to rely on a car for children to travel to school, they can park slightly further away and walk the last part of the journey.

The scheme would be enforced using vehicle registration mark cameras at the entrace of roads within the School Streets zone. Vehicles that travel in without an exemption in place would be issued with a Penalty Charge Notices (PCN). The cost of the PCN will be £130, which will be reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days.

A one way street, for example, might improve the flow of traffic but it doesn’t remove cars from the road so the children (and everyone else) on the street are still exposed to similar levels of air pollution (children in London are exposed to up to five times higher emissions during the school run than other times of the day). Also, by making the road potentially easier to drive down, it could actually encourage more people to drive, thereby increasing the amount of cars overall

Both Handsworth Primary School and Highams Park School communicate with parents and children encouraging alternative car-free ways of getting to school. This cannot be enforced though, only a restriction on vehicles will stop cars.

The Senior Site Manager overseeing the build has confirmed that no deliveries or lorries will be coming on to or leaving the site before 9.30am or between 3.00pm and 4.00pm.

If you need to drive to the doctor’s surgery during School Street hours, you’d be able to obtain a 1-day exemption by emailing the Council on the day of appointment (or beforehand). Information on how to do this would be on the Council website, the website of the GP, and on provided posters and leaflets at the surgery.

No they won’t, it is all based on the consultation results. Residents voted against CPZ so it wasn’t introduced.

Yes, they currently do, but the entrance will return to Handsworth Avenue when building work is complete.

This would help the safety of crossing the road but it would not reduce the number of cars using the street. The only way to reduce vehicles is to put restrictions in place.