Parents, teachers and kids at a Dulwich primary are campaigning to stop the council from removing the bollards outside their school, which they say currently keep the road safe.
The proposed removal of the bollards is causing quite a stir at Bessemer Grange Primary School in Dulwich, with parents and teachers worried it could lead to ‘children getting harmed.’
In 2018, the collapsible metal bollards, which are manually erected from the ground during opening and closing hours to stop cars from driving directly outside the school, were installed by the council as part of the school streets scheme.
The school is located across two opposite sites on Nairne Grove. The closure covers a short length of road extending from Nairne Grove on the east to Nairne Grove, Woodfarrs and Dylways junction to the west.
It is one of eighteen school streets in Southwark, where motor traffic is restricted, in order to improve road safety and reduce the impact of air pollution.
But Southwark Council officers have announced they will be removing them in January and instead use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to restrict traffic – with which car users will face a fine if they drive down the road during the prohibited hours.
Emily Carter, a mother with two children at the school, said she does not think this will be enough to deter cars. “The cameras don’t always work,” she told us, “people will either take the fine or they won’t know about the road closure and will use it anyway to cut through.”
She explained that for the last five years, when walking or cycling to and from school, children can cross the road, without having to think about cars ‘whizzing past.’
“It’s a really lovely community at the moment and we’re really concerned that if they remove them, some children will get harmed.”
She added that they were given no information that the council were planning to remove them and they were not consulted prior to receiving the news.
Parents are not the only ones with concerns. Seven-year-old, Aidan, a pupil at the school, said: “I don’t want the bollards to be removed because then the cars could drive in and hurt some kids if they’re going across the road.”
He told us he would be ‘really worried’ about people’s safety if they were taken away.
Another pupil, Zach, 10, said as he walks to school alone, the bollards are a ‘real help.’ “I walk to school alone and the bollards really help me. I was here for Year 2 without them and I had to be on my highest guard to make sure I wasn’t hit by a car.”
“For a child, it should be a right to not have to do that. All schools in Southwark should have them.”
Ten-year-old Polly, said: “Kids might be so used to the fact the bollards have always been there for them, that they might forget and walk across the road whilst a car is coming.”
Asked if the cameras would be an effective replacement Olive, 9, said: “Why do we need cameras – when these do the same job?” Except – she pointed out the cameras will stop cars when an accident ‘may have already happened.’
Elizabeth Whitehead, Head of School at Bessemer Primary School, said: “Our school which has over 600 pupils is a ‘split site’ so covers both sides of the road, Nairne Grove.
“Parents and children need to cross the road to collect children from each side of the road and staff also escort children from site to site while the barriers are still up.
“As a school, we worked closely with parents, local councillors and other residents to ensure it was a success. School staff have been supporting the scheme by putting the barriers up and down, something which we have always been happy to do.”
In
a case study analysis of the school streets scheme at Bessemer Grange published last year TfL noted that the number of cars, vans and other motor vehicles fell by 82 per cent.
The TfL report also reads: “It is likely that the use of collapsible bollards preventing access to motorised vehicles to the School Street during the closure period has contributed to the low traffic environment and comfortable use of the carriageway by people walking and on bikes.”
As part of their campaign to urge Southwark Council to keep the bollards, the parents have launched a
petition – which has over 700 signatures so far. They said they have a meeting with the council this week to talk about this issue – but added that if their asks are not listened to they will be staging a protest outside on the street.
Given the council’s current mission to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, with the Streets for People strategy, we asked the council the reason why they are planning to remove the bollards.
Councillor James McAsh, Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency, Clean Air and Streets, said: “A school street will remain at this specific site. As with all school streets, we work very closely with the school on how we manage the local area and we are meeting Bessemer Grange school leaders to discuss the next steps and their preference for traffic management.
“Children’s safety is paramount and how we manage traffic near schools is generally guided by the wishes of the school, nothing has changed in that. ANPR is often preferable as it doesn’t require physical operation and removes the risk of barriers being left up or down at the wrong times.”