Head teacher wants ban on cars around school reinstated

A head teacher wants a ban on cars around his school at drop-off times to be brought back.

A Safe Haven Zone was put in place outside St John Fisher Primary School in Alvaston at the start of last year - similar to many schemes across the UK.

Cars were banned from driving in front of the school for half an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.

But councillors were flooded with complaints about travel chaos so the restrictions have been removed.

In a letter explaining the decision to rescind the ban, the council said a "significant number" of residents found the trial zone "inconvenient" and it could not be put in place permanently without majority support.

Head teacher Saul Ratcliffe said he was a supporter of the scheme

Head teacher Saul Ratcliffe said the school fully supported the scheme, which was one of seven operating in Derby and he hoped changes could be made, such as introducing a walking bus, so the restrictions could be put back in place.

He said: "For me, children's safety has to come first and for that, I don't know if it's the right decision.

"I wrote quite strongly in favour of keeping the restrictions in place, maybe altering the times so it wasn't quite as long to come to a happy resolution but I think, for us, we need to maintain that safety for our children.

"I will certainly be speaking to the council to see if there's any way we can reapply or anything we can do to add in something temporary, certainly at the immediate pick-up and drop-off times."

Mum Natalie Fletcher was worried about safety

Residents living on the streets near the perimeter of the original restrictions said they had to deal with fines, poor driving and disruption to bin collections.

Natalie Fletcher said she was worried about safety and added: "The whole time it was just a nightmare - you couldn't get cars down here is there was a fire, if you needed an ambulance, forget it.

"The fines that came with it, we couldn't get a permit here because we could go the long way round, but you forget times when you're in a rush.

"We had to take my daughter to A&E and we got fined because it was a rush and you forget because you've always been allowed to do it."

Andrew Ray lives nearby and says problem drivers were pushed onto his road

Another resident, Andrew Ray added: "The excess amount of traffic was crowding up on the corners here and the noise setting my dogs off with people dropping their kids off.

"The backlog of traffic down Alvaston Street and down the side streets was putting more lives at risk of being knocked over by people trying to go about their daily business than the road being open 24/7."

But the scheme had plenty of supporters too, including Ify Onwukwe, who has two children attending the school.

She said: "When the ban was in force we didn't see a lot of cars right in front of the school and you didn't find lots of cars speeding during pick-up times, so it was easy to cross the road comfortably with your kids, they were safe.

"Since the ban went, I didn't know it was gone, all of a sudden you just cars moving around pick-up times and you're having to watch left, right with the kids and make sure they're safe."

The camera-enforced restriction was installed in February 2022 and led to more than 1,700 fines of up to £70 being issued to motorists who breached the order.

Mum Ify Onwukwe has two children at the school

A Derby City Council spokesperson said: "This School Safe Haven Zone was introduced on a trial basis to encourage active travel and give both residents and the school community an opportunity to see how the scheme could benefit the local area. A consultation was later opened for the community to share their feedback.

"The results of the consultation showed that opinion was divided, with most residents being opposed to the scheme becoming permanent.

"The Council will only introduce a School Safe Haven Zone on a permanent basis if the results of the majority of the community were in favour of the scheme. The decision was therefore made, in consultation with ward councillors, to remove the scheme and explore alternative plans for the area.

"Several School Safe Haven Zones have already successfully been introduced across the city. In these cases, the feedback has been mostly positive, from both the school, parents/carers and residents. The Council continues to explore other areas within the city which may benefit from the introduction of a School Safe Haven Zone."

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