Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
28
Sept
Urgent plea to save 'trailblazing' Harrogate school safety scheme
Campaigners are calling for an ‘at risk’ car-free zone outside a Harrogate school to be prioritised for automatic number plate recognition cameras to prevent it from collapsing.
Beechwood Grove, which leads to 360-pupil Oatlands Junior School, is the only School Streets initiative in North Yorkshire.
The scheme, which bans vehicles from 8.30am to 9am and from 3pm to 3.45pm on schooldays, was introduced after a pupil was taken to hospital following a collision on the street in 2023.
It has been maintained until now by school funding and volunteers.
Hazel Peacock, who has been at the forefront of the campaign for the car-free zone, said ANPR cameras to monitor and enforce the initiative were essential to prevent it collapsing.
But North Yorkshire Council is still trialling the use of ANPR cameras at a box junction in Gowthorpe in Selby.
Until that much-delayed trial is over, other schemes — including the one at Oatlands — are on hold. And even then, there is no guarantee of funding.
Campaigners are frustrated at the length of time the Selby trial is taking and have questioned why it has been prioritised over the school safety initiative at Oatlands.
Beechwood Grove, leading to Oatlands Junior School, is a designated School Street.
Ms Peacock told the council's Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee last week that parents and campaigners have waited three years for cameras at the site.
Now the Beechwood Grove scheme is in jeopardy.
Ms Peacock said:
We are concerned the future of this trailblazing school street scheme is being caught in the crossfire of the bigger picture, with serious implications to the safety of the schoolchildren which protects them every day. We hope the words of North Yorkshire Council are matched with action soon.
Street 'transformed'
Estelle Scarth, headteacher at Oatlands Junior School, said a return to the street being full of cars was “unthinkable”.
She said:
The safety of our school pupils is of the utmost importance. The school street scheme has transformed what was once a dangerous space into a safe, calm one, enabling healthy active journeys for all our pupils. A return to the previous situation which was hostile and dangerous is unthinkable.
Andrew Clare, senior traffic management and parking engineer at the council, said in a statement to the area committee it was "aware of the strong local interest in this matter" but his comments did little to suggest anything would change soon.
He said:
Our immediate priority is the implementation of moving traffic (MT) enforcement at Gowthorpe, Selby, which was the nominated location in our MTM application to the Department for Transport for the necessary powers and will be the county’s first MT site.
Progress towards bringing the scheme into operation has taken longer than originally anticipated, primarily due to challenges associated with the procurement process. However, we currently expect the site to become operational in early 2027. This will be followed by a three-month review period to assess its effectiveness in accordance with the DfT’s statutory guidance on the implementation, operation and evaluation of MT schemes.
The School Streets programme remains an important priority for the council. As you may be aware, we submitted a funding application to the combined authority to support the provision of ANPR cameras at the School Street locations. We have since been informed that the application has been successful and are currently awaiting further details of the release of this funding.
Once funding is confirmed and a successful MT operation has been established at Gowthorpe, we will consider potential future locations across the county. School Streets sites will be given priority where they meet the relevant operational and policy criteria.
Peter Lacey, Liberal Democrat chair of the committee, said he would write to the council’s highways portfolio holder, Cllr Malcolm Taylor, and Cllr Carl Les, the Conservative leader of the council, pointing out that a stop-gap solution was needed to prevent the scheme from collapsing.
He said:
If we can’t have the ANPR leapfrogged, we need a solution because otherwise the scheme is at high risk of failure.
1