Councils should be open about challenging car use, says McAsh

When installing School Streets be clear about your aim to make it harder for people to drive their cars, Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Clean Air, Streets & Waste James McAsh has told London boroughs. He told delegates at the School Streets South conference: “Say what you mean. Explain that you are going to reclaim the space for communities. Say, ‘yes, we’re going to have fewer cars and we’re going to have less traffic’. ”

McAsh also advised boroughs to have clear objectives when implementing School Streets. “So, yes, School Streets are important for reducing road danger, improving air quality and encouraging walking, cycling and scotting and discouraging people from driving to school.”

However, he admitted that in the past Southwark Council also saw School Streets as a way of adapting traffic movement in the wider area. “This caused problems for us; it brought in a lack of clarity in what we were trying to achieve.”

McAsh also pointed to schemes associated with School Streets that have encouraged behaviour change. The council has supported workshops in school that show children how to fix their bikes. “There are children who don’t know how to cycle to don’t have any interest in cycling, but they still really get into fixing bikes as part of the activity. And we’ve found that acts as a gateway into active travel.”

The way Southwark Council engages with schools over implementing School Streets has changed, said McAsh. “So, now it is a case of opting out – they have to give us a very strong reason why they don’t want a School Street. The default now is we are going to do it, and that changes the conversation.”

Southwark has more than 30 School Streets and plans to implement schemes at every school in the borough by 2030, said McAsh.