The school run, walk, cycle...

Hackney's new school travel plan advisor introduces herself

Introduction

A school travel plan (STP) is a document that seeks to reduce private car use and in so doing improve road safety and address issues of environmental sustainability and healthy living. It is produced for and often by a school and is aimed at parents, pupils, teachers and visitors travelling to and from the school.

I am being employed by Sustrans for roughly 3 days a week as STP Advisor for Hackney Council. My role is to help schools develop their own STPs and to develop the STP strategy for Hackney council (the framework by which STPs are to be developed).

STPs are an initiative driven jointly by the Department for Transport and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The target set by DfT/DfSE is for 40% of schools to have a completed STP by 2006. My target is for 10 STPS in Hackney to be signed off by end of March 2005 but I hope to exceed this.

In order to receive capital money to the tune of c.5k (primary schools) and c.10k (secondary schools) from DfT/DfES, schools must have their STP approved and signed off by me by the end of March 2005.

Priority areas in Hackney

My priorities are schools in areas where LBH has been undertaking Safe Routes to Schools work (SRTS). SRTS is a programme that LBH has been implementing for a number of years now. Physical measures to improve the safety of pupils walking and cycling to school, e.g. better crossings, better lighting, traffic calming measures.

The BSP 2004/5 identifies Cazenove Road (100,000) and Rendalsham Road (70,000) for works including better signage (to identify a 'schooled' section), better pavements and raised junction at Cazenove and Fountayne Road; and general improvement of streetscape, converting speed cushions to speed tables and installing extra cushions.

The BSP 2005/06 identifies Bethune Road area (190,000) and Napier Grove (85,000) plus School Travel Awareness Activities and my post (25,000).

Encouraging cycling to school

London's regional co-ordinator of STPs is a good source of advice for me and other STP staff. She is among many professionals wary of promoting cycling to primary schools, who may not wish to encourage it on safety grounds. She recommends promoting cycle training in year 6 to prepare the pupils for travel to secondary school but not necessarily to be pushy about primary school children cycling to school.

However, the successful and award-winning STABikes at Sir Thomas Abney is an obvious case study to encourage other primary schools to promote cycling.

Finding champions

Much of my job will be identifying 'champions' connected with a school who drive the STP process forward through enthusiasm and a willingness to change the situation. These can be parents, caretakers, head teachers, governors - anyone really. I will not be writing the STPs, I will be enabling the schools to do it themselves so it is very important for me to make connections with possible 'champions' and be able to encourage them to get the scheme going.

How Hackney cyclists can help

Do you have contacts with any other schools in Hackney that are undertaking cycling training? Do any of the HC members/activists have links with Hackney schools? governors, parents, local residents etc? Do you have any good contacts at the council or otherwise who I should talk with?

Contact Alix by email: alix.stredwick@hackney.gov.uk