Residents of Grangehill Road were informed today that a section of their road will be closed from 8am to 9.30am and from 3pm to 4pm to “encourage parents/carers and the school community to engage in more sustainable ways to travel.”
The closure is part of a new ‘Schools Streets’ trial which the Royal Borough of Greenwich Council is launching and covers the Gordon and Haimo schools in Eltham, De Lucy School in Abbey Wood and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary in Greenwich. Around the Gordon School Grangehill Road will be closed for the relatively limited stretch from Craigton Road to Earshall Road.
This being Greenwich, the letter informing residents is dated 28th September 2018, has been distributed late, less than a week before the start date for the trial, naturally causing some surprise among local residents.
A copy of the letter distributed to residents is below.
Gordon – Resident Letter 28.09.2018
If you have any comments, please do contact School-Travel-Plan@royalgreenwich.gov.uk as these will be important in determining whether the scheme will be made permanent (which is the Council’s long-term ambition according to the letter).
UPDATE 13/10/18
Over the weekend the Council have responded to concerns expressed by local Councillors about the speed the scheme was being introduced with and delayed it. There was an admission that the distribution of the letters was late and this limited residents’ ability to plan for the introduction of the scheme. The latest communication from the Council reads as follows:
“Dear Stakeholder,
Thank you for contacting us with your comments regarding the School Street scheme. Please find an important update below.
The implementation date for the School Streets has been amended to allow more time for engagement. Leading up to the start of the closures focus will be on awareness and engagement, with Council officers supporting the schools in identifying some of the practical issues for residents and others. This will allow residents more time to make alternative arrangements.
The new starting dates are as follows:
- De Lucy School (Cookhill Road) Tuesday 30 October
- Gordon School (Grangehill Road between Earlshall Road and Craigton Road) Tuesday 30 October
- Haimo School (Haimo Road between Froissart Road and South Circular A205 Slip Road) Tuesday 30 October
- St Joseph’s School – Commerell Street November (date to be confirmed)
We will shortly write to residents again to confirm these new starting dates. Meanwhile, the web page has been updated with answers to some of the most frequent questions that we have received to date, for more information please visit www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/schoolstreets.”