New schools policy doesn’t give active travel a chance

Jenny Raggett’s Viewpoint is sad and disappointing (ibid). The lack of joined-up planning is astonishing. If we are intent on meeting challenging carbon dioxide emission targets, this approach to house-building clearly does not help. 

There are parallels in the way we seem to plan new schools. Government requirements for English local authorities to provide new-build for free schools and academies to operate, rather than allow existing schools to expand capacity, is clearly limiting local options.

Two new primary academies are under construction in Huddersfield and both will create additional traffic in areas that are already busy at school time. Sadly, the locations selected seem to have more to do with access to cheap land than any ‘consumer’ considerations. The resulting loss of playing fields and allotments in both locations has not been entirely welcome by those affected – but new schools are hard to challenge, even on traffic and environmental grounds.

When both schools are complete and occupied it’s not going to be easy to get primary age children enrolled walking and cycling to school. There are two factors at work here. Firstly, substantial demand for school places exists beyond safe walking distance to these new schools. Secondly, measures proposed by residents to reduce traffic speeds, restrict parking, improve footpaths and prioritise road safety to one development were presented in some detail, with survey results, at the planning committee. Objectors (including the writer) were told none of their proposed mitigation measures were considered necessary. Rather, councillors put their faith in a travel plan covering the site’s proposed 630 primary pupils and the existing 950 secondary academy students (plus staff who need over 100 car parking places). 

As a member of the Transport Planning Society I hope the plan does the job, but without any mitigating measures I am not optimistic. Local community-based input into neighbourhood-level travel and transport planning has not been valued in the way we hoped. 

So, like housing, there are implications of our approach to new schools that don’t give walking and cycling much of a chance.