Five Minute Walking Zone Case Study
Durham Gilesgate Primary School
Durham Gilesgate Primary School joined the School Travel Planning programme with the specific aims of encouraging more pupils to walk on their school journey and reducing the number of parental vehicles parked outside of the school.
As you can see from the photograph above, the school entrance is a poor design with the access road being shared with a Clinic and the demolished Infant site. The school entrance is located on a sharp bend which joins together two residential streets. Parents and carers were parking in these streets and on the bend which caused problems not only for pedestrians but also for local residents. Parents were also regularly parking on the access road; all of this was compounded by the presence of garages, located next to the school, which proved an ideal place for parental vehicles.
The analysis of the parents and pupil travel questionnaire revealed that less than half of the pupils walked on their school journey, even though the majority of them lived less than 1km away from school. Representatives from the School Council suggested that an ‘exclusion zone’ for parental vehicles should be created around the school site to reduce the number of parental vehicles parked in the area
The School Travel Plan Advisor suggested to the group that an exclusion zone could be created by the development of a ‘Five Minute Walking Zone’. The school began work on the creation of the zone by giving every class a map of the area. The pupils then marked on the map where they lived and the Year 3 and 4 pupils were tasked with the creation of the zone.
Adult volunteers including parents, school staff, and older brothers and sisters led groups of pupils on routes that radiated from the school in each direction. Each group donned high visibility tabards. Armed with a watch, a camera and a map of the area they each walked their route. At the end of the timed walk the group marked their location on the plan.
On the return journey to school the group took photographs of any hazards they encountered. Once back in the classroom each group marked on a larger plan of the area the location that they reached. By joining the points together, the 5 minute zone was created.
The final shape of the zone was transferred onto transparent film and then overlaid on the maps which showed the location of the pupils’ homes. Any pupils living within the zone were advised that they needed to walk for all the school journey. Those pupils who lived outside of the zone were advised to park beyond the zone boundary in a socially acceptable place and walk for the remaining part of the journey.
In order to promote and publicise the existence of the zone, pupils created a display using their maps and photographs. They also created artwork for special signs to display on the boundary of the zone and a leaflet for parents.
A special launch of the zone took place with Sam, Durham County Council’s Safer, Greener, Fitter mascot greeting pupils at the school gate with PC Lavender the local police officer. Sam then delivered a special assembly in school which was watched by parents and pupils alike. Tesco Supermarket in Renny’s Lane also supported the launch by providing orange juice for everyone.
As a result of the Five Minute Walking Zone the school have benefited from a significant reduction in the number of vehicles parked outside of school. The success of the zone lies with the pupils, the school staff and the Working Group who listened to the pupils and empowered them to make a real difference to their school’s travel issues.
