Good news!
All winning councillors bar two signed up to our pre-election pledge (see below), asking them to recognise the issue of school run traffic. Only Catherine Rose and Andy Simmons, Labour councillors in Dulwich Wood, home to Dulwich College, Dulwich Prep and Kingsdale - three non-catchment schools with nearly 5,000 pupils between them - didn’t sign. We will be contacting these councillors again, and asking them what their plans are for the school run. Our visit to the Herne Hill hustings, the support we were given by local councillors, and our demands were covered in Southwark News here.
More good news!
Brilliantly, after we introduced Dulwich College to HomeRun earlier in the year, (a car-sharing and data-collecting app specifically aimed at reducing traffic in the areas around schools) they have signed up to it, starting this week. They are also introducing it to the other Foundation schools (Alleyns and JAGs), so fingers crossed they will also sign up. This will give parents at these schools options other than driving their children to school, and it will also give data so better transport options can be developed for the whole area. In Hampstead, where it’s also been introduced, there has been a 20% reduction in school related car journeys. There is also interest from Lambeth council in rolling out the app, as it will improve better travel options for children at local state schools, as well as give cross-border councils access to data, which will enable them to plan their approach to traffic issues more holistically.
Things that will make it better:
Please come to our webinar on Tuesday June 14th, at 8pm. It’s for local residents as well as parents who are fed up with the traffic, and lack of alternatives for the school run. We will cover the opportunities we believe there are, to reduce traffic, specifically at peak times. HomeRun will also be there, to show what they offer and how it can reduce traffic. Please come, or pass the link to your friends.
Thanks so much for your support. We really believe that together, we can reduce the impact of traffic on the area, please get involved!
Claire & Nicola
Other groups that were signatories of the pledge: Croxted Road, Guernsey and Hawarden Grove, Lovelace Road, Pymers Mead, and Thurlow Hill Residents Association, plus Clean Air Dulwich, East Dulwich Station Healthy Streets, Lambeth Living Streets and Southwark Living Streets.
*Traffic-y wards: Gipsy Hill, Herne Hill & Loughborough Junction, West Dulwich, Dulwich Village, Dulwich Village, Dulwich Wood and Goose Green
Non-catchment schools; Alleyn's School, Alleyn's Junior, Dulwich College, Dulwich Prep, Herne Hill School, James Allen's, Judith Kerry Primary, Kingsdale Secondary, Oakfield Prep and Rosemead Prep.
And the bad.
If you were unfortunate to be around during the school run this morning, you’ll have seen the horrendous traffic levels. We have data that shows this traffic drops off during non-catchment school holidays. We need urgent action now from the schools. Please write to them, particularly the junior schools, and ask them whether they provide school buses for children living outside active travel distance of 1.5miles? If not, why not? We believe that the lack of provision by local non-catchment primary schools is a huge part of our problem. Please write today.
Kommentare