Cycling

Woodham Community College in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham joined the School Travel Planning programme with the aim to encourage more pupils to walk and cycle on the journey to and from school. Perhaps more importantly, they wanted to put the students at the forefront of the decision making process.

The good road network in Newton Aycliffe encourages parents to bring pupils to school by car. However, the streets around the school are narrow and twisting and unsuitable for a lot of traffic. The large number of mini-buses and cars belonging to school staff compounded this situation.

There were no cycle parking facilities at the school. One walking route to the school was through a poorly illuminated and unwelcoming wooded area. Many parents would not allow their children to walk this route.

Following a series of School Travel Planning Working Group meetings, it was decided to implement new lines and signs at the school entrance. Works on the school site included the creation of a new shared-use route for pedestrians and cyclists that linked into the existing cycle network. A new steel gate was erected to provide security for the school site. At the pedestrian entrance to the school, two lengths of footway were constructed along with pedestrian guard railing and a dropped crossing arrangement. Secure cycle parking was also provided to house fifty bicycles.

Head teacher Steve Harness commented that the cycle park had had a very positive impact on the college and he could now “… see a real difference in how students were choosing to travel to school.”

Prior to the implementation of the cycle parking facility only 12 students cycled to school. Following the installation, demand has been so great that the school have used their capital grant to add additional parking for a further 40 bicycles.

Of all the measures that have been introduced at the school, one of the most effective is definitely one of the simplest. Locking the main vehicle gates at the start and end of the school day prevents any on-site conflict between pupils and vehicles.

For more information on measures that have been implemented in school then visit case studies.