Parents want roads closed outside Brighton and Hove schools

Parents at St Luke’s Primary School, in Brighton, and Brunswick Primary School, in Hove, want bollards returned to roads closed in September 2020 as part of the council’s School Streets trials.

The council closed roads outside the two schools temporarily as part of a pilot project to encourage more children to walk and cycle to school.

The scheme was also intended to make it easier for people to maintain social distancing outside schools during the coronavirus pandemic.

But not everyone backed the changes – and councillors revised the scheme last autumn, with the bollards removed in the new year.

The two petitions, in response to the removal of the bollards, were presented on Thursday at full council.

Campaigners have collected more than 500 signatures calling on the council to put the bollards back near Brunswick Primary School – at the bottom of Somerhill Road where it meets Lansdowne Road.

When the council previously consulted the public about whether to make the temporary changes permanent, four people objected and five backed the changes.

Objectors were concerned that the changes made access harder for ambulances and other emergency vehicles, the road closure displaced traffic and there was a lack of consultation.

One of the petitions – about Somerhill Road – is due to be presented by parent Emilie Bruley. It said: “We believe the closure has very positively transformed Somerhill Road to a much quieter, safer and cleaner street.

“The closure has slowed vehicles down and reduced the rat-run traffic of people using the street to avoid traffic lights in Holland Road.

“In particular, the improvement for safer crossing at the Lansdowne Road junction (previously a difficult one with low visibility) has been massive.

“That closure benefits not only the residents and the Brunswick Primary community but also the many people on foot, cycles, mobility aids and vehicles using it.”

Queen's Park Rise bollards

The other petition – about Queen’s Park Rise – criticised the focus on objections when the results of a public consultation were reported to the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee last September.

A total of 45 people objected while 35 people supported the scheme by St Luke’s School – and 22 objectors said that they had been “inconvenienced” by the Queen’s Park Rise road closure.

The petition, presented by Kathryn Tomlinson, has 237 signatures.

It said: “We feel strongly that the voice of those local residents who support the scheme has not been heard or duly reflected upon in the council’s decision.

“We would like to take this opportunity to give our reasons why we think the … street closure is a good scheme for the community. We believe that (it) should remain.”

At the meeting last September when councillors voted to remove the bollards, Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson also criticised the lack of consultation.

Cars, vans and other motor vehicles are still banned from both the roads from 8am to 10am and from 2pm to 4pm.