A proposed Healthy School Street (HSS) scheme in Camden is facing pushback from local residents, who claim the plan was amended after consultation and does not reflect the community's views. Residents also say the public engagement process was flawed.
The Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee met on Monday to discuss the call-in of a decision made by the Cabinet Member for Planning and a Sustainable Camden regarding the implementation of a trial HSS scheme near St Margaret's School and St Luke's Church of England School. The proposed scheme includes timed motor vehicle restrictions on several streets during school hours, aiming to improve road safety and air quality.
The trial HSS scheme would be implemented under an Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) for a period of up to 18 months. Further feedback would be sought from residents and stakeholders during the trial period, and consideration of any statutory objections during the first 6 months of that trial. A further full public consultation would only be held if significant amendments to the trial scheme were proposed as part of any permanent measures.
However, the decision has been met with huge local opposition,
according to the call-in notice submitted by Councillors Steve Adams, Andrew Parkinson, Stephen Stark, and Shiva Tiwari. The councillors argue that the decision was made on a scheme that was amended following consultation and does not respect the outcome of the flawed public engagement.
The amendments made to the HSS scheme after the initial consultation include:
- Splitting the HSS scheme into two separate HSS zones, one for each school.
- Amending the extent of the HSS zone on Kidderpore Avenue to operate between Platt's Lane and Penrose Gardens only.
- Reducing the HSS restriction times for St Luke's CE school on Kidderpore Avenue to operate between 8.15am and 9.15am.
- Reducing the HSS morning restriction times to 8:00am -8:45am to reflect the pick-up and drop-off times of St Margaret's school on Ferncroft Avenue.
- Extending the restriction to cover the lower section of Hollycroft Avenue to mitigate traffic displacement and potential drop off/pick up there, close to St Margaret's school
Francesca Agostini of Green School Runs spoke in favour of the scheme, stating that HSS schemes are the most straightforward scheme to address pollution and congestion at the school gate.
Naomi Gordon, a local resident, addressed the committee, stating that the vast majority of local residents – about 81% - are against the proposals.
According to the Public reports pack, in the public consultation, 78.8% of the 515 respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the proposals. She also raised concerns about the consultation process, stating, what is now proposed is not an evolution of the scheme that was consulted on. It is an entirely new scheme, on which consultation has not been made.
The committee is tasked with considering the call-in and deciding whether to approve the original decision, recommend a different decision, refer the decision to the Council, or examine the decision in more detail.
The report presented to the committee outlined that the proposed scheme aims to:
- Reduce traffic volumes.
- Improve road safety.
- Improve air quality.
- Encourage pupils and parents/carers to walk, cycle or scoot to school.
- Improve pedestrian accessibility.
- Improve climate resilience.
The report also noted that traffic data collected in 2024 showed increased traffic levels on Ferncroft Avenue and Kidderpore Avenue during school drop-off and pick-up times.
