Wiltshire Council’s School Streets pilot will begin tomorrow (4 September) at four schools across the county, helping to create safer, healthier and less congested environments for children and families during the school run.

The pilot will be introduced at:

• Aloeric Primary School, Melksham
• Fynamore Primary School, Calne
• Minster Primary School, Warminster
• Queen’s Crescent Primary School, Chippenham

School Streets temporarily restrict through traffic on roads outside schools at the start and end of the school day during term time. The measures are designed to improve safety, reduce congestion and encourage more walking, wheeling and cycling.

The schemes are being introduced under Experimental Traffic Regulation Orders (ETROs), allowing the council to monitor how they operate in practice while continuing to gather feedback from residents, parents, schools, businesses and the wider community over the next 18 months.

The restrictions will only apply for short periods at the start and end of the school day and the exact times vary depending on the school. The measures will be enforced using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

Exemptions apply for emergency services, people living within the restricted areas, businesses located within the zones and people with defined needs. The council has already written to affected households and businesses explaining how the exemption process works.

Since the announcement of the trial, the council has received feedback from local communities, particularly regarding elderly relatives, carers and tradespeople needing access to properties within School Streets zones during the start and end of the school day.

Having listened to this feedback, the council is reassuring people that no fixed penalty notices will be issued during the first few weeks of the trial to drivers that enter a School Streets zone for legitimate reasons, while people familiarise themselves with the new arrangements.

However, as the schemes are designed to reduce school-run traffic, dropping off or picking up children from school will not be considered a legitimate reason for entering a restricted zone during the operational hours.

Cllr Ian Thorn, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “Tomorrow marks an important step in our efforts to create safer and healthier journeys to school for children and families across Wiltshire.

“School Streets are designed to reduce traffic and congestion at the busiest times of the school day, helping to make the areas outside schools calmer, safer and more pleasant for everyone.

“This pilot supports our commitment in Our Wiltshire Plan to have safer roads and promote walking and cycling. By introducing the schemes as an experimental trial, we can see how they work in practice and continue listening to local communities before making any decisions about the future.

“I’d like to thank the schools, residents and businesses who have engaged with us throughout the process, and I’d encourage people to continue sharing their feedback during the trial period.

“We’ve heard the concerns raised by local people, particularly around access for elderly relatives, carers and tradespeople, and we’ve listened. We will take a proportionate approach during the first few weeks of the trial, while people become familiar with the new arrangements. Our aim is to change behaviour around the school run and make it safer for school pupils and their carers, not to penalise people who have a genuine need to access these areas.”

People will be able to provide feedback throughout the 18-month experimental period before any decision is made on whether the schemes should become permanent.

To find out more, people should go to: School Streets – Wiltshire Council.