Campaigners want roads closed near two schools and plan to present petitions to Brighton and Hove City Council this week.
Parents at St Luke’s Primary School, in Brighton, and Brunswick Primary School, in Hove, want bollards returned to roads closed in September 2020 as part of the council’s “School Streets” trials.
The council closed roads outside the two schools temporarily as part of a pilot project to encourage more children to walk and cycle to school.
The scheme was also intended to make it easier for people to maintain social distancing outside schools during the coronavirus pandemic.
But not everyone backed the changes – and councillors revised the scheme last autumn, with the bollards removed in the new year.
The two petitions, in response to the removal of the bollards, are due to be presented on Thursday (7 April) when the full council is scheduled to meet.
Campaigners have collected more than 500 signatures calling on the council to put the bollards back near Brunswick Primary School – at the bottom of Somerhill Road where it meets Lansdowne Road.
When the council previously consulted the public about whether to make the temporary changes permanent, four people objected and five backed the changes.
Objectors were concerned that the changes made access harder for ambulances and other emergency vehicles, the road closure displaced traffic and there was a lack of consultation.
One of the petitions – about Somerhill Road – is due to be presented by parent Emilie Bruley. It said: “We believe the closure has very positively transformed Somerhill Road to a much quieter, safer and cleaner street.
“The closure has slowed vehicles down and reduced the rat-run traffic of people using the street to avoid traffic lights in Holland Road.
“In particular, the improvement for safer crossing at the Lansdowne Road junction (previously a difficult one with low visibility) has been massive.
“That closure benefits not only the residents and the Brunswick Primary community but also the many people on foot, cycles, mobility aids and vehicles using it.”
The other petition – about Queen’s Park Rise – criticised the focus on objections when the results of a public consultation were reported to the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee last September.
A total of 45 people objected while 35 people supported the scheme by St Luke’s School – and 22 objectors said that they had been “inconvenienced” by the Queen’s Park Rise road closure.
The petition, which is due to be presented by Kathryn Tomlinson, has 237 signatures.
It said: “We feel strongly that the voice of those local residents who support the scheme has not been heard or duly reflected upon in the council’s decision.
“We would like to take this opportunity to give our reasons why we think the … street closure is a good scheme for the community. We believe that (it) should remain.”
At the meeting last September when councillors voted to remove the bollards, Labour councillor Gary Wilkinson also criticised the lack of consultation.
Cars, vans and other motor vehicles are still banned from both the roads from 8am to 10am and from 2pm to 4pm.
The council is due to meet at 4.30pm on Thursday and to receive the petition during a “public and members’ engagement” session before councillors discuss formal business from 6.30pm. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
I don’t remember ever reading of any accident at the junction of Somerhill Road and Lansdowne Road, so why all the fuss? There is a zebra crossing very close to it, and it is used by parents with their children. In any case it is up to parents (or guardians) to teach their children to check carefully when crossing any road. All that the bollards were doing was to make drivers turn and drive back, and take a longer way round to get into Lansdowne Road – another chaotic mess created by the ever misguided Greens.
Someone must get hurt before the streets are made safer?
David Haskell
Accident data needs to be considered in any planned road closures, this data can be used as a ‘positive’ to highlight a reason. In this case the result is 0, therefore can not be used as a valid reason.
Closing a road permanently is what is being suggested here, this will cause additional traffic in nearby streets increasing any potential incidents, or should we close those roads too.
You need to weigh up the pros and cons of any plan and find the best solution, closing a road will have impacts on other roads.
Making a road one way may be an option.
You need to consider the emergency services, blocking a road off at one end meaning an Ambulance needing to turn around in this street would be of concern to me straight away, a few minutes wasted turning a vehicle around could be the difference between life and death.
You seriously need to think outside the box.
The 100m of Somerhill Road closed off has a care home for people with sight problems, a school entrance, a park entrance and a childrens’ nursery. I really don’t see why anyone would object. Its hard to see why an ambulance would use Somerhill Road to go anywhere else apart from Somerhill Road
Jon
Interesting comment: Its hard to see why an ambulance would use Somerhill Road to go anywhere else apart from Somerhill Road.
Err hello, in your wildest imagination, it isn’t possible that someone, in the care home, school, a resident or anybody else will never need an ambulance then ?
Well that’s the so called Green way of pretending to make the city carbon free by sending traffic to clog up elsewhere
A late and failed attempt by the paper to boost the number of signatories on the petitions sufficiently to trigger a debate at council.
The closure at the bottom of Queens park rise makes it difficult for large vehicles to go down and turn around.
It’s not very good to reverse down either because of the school. I do agree with it being closed when children go to school and come home. As a dustcart driver this is my opinion.
If they do approve the permanent closure then drop down bollards should be approved.
Charley
The dangers of reversing and turning around were highlighted when this scheme was first introduced, but as always the ‘brain dead’ and council can’t comprehend the consequence’s of their actions. These schemes increase dangers that were not evident before.
Restrict access at school drop off and collection times agreed.
There’s no reason why the road could not be one way.
I walktdowm Somerhill when it was closed and all the parents’ cars were double parking on both sides of the side road. Much more dangerous and polluting.