Park and Stride Case Study
Neville's Cross Primary School
Neville’s Cross Primary School in Durham embarked upon the development of a School Travel Plan with the specific aims of reducing traffic congestion in the vicinity of the school and addressing the issues of parents and carers accessing the school along a narrow residential street, Relly Peth.
The school is located at the end of a narrow residential street, or peth as they are known locally, with limited car parking capacity for parental vehicles. Parents and carers therefore parked on the public roads – particularly on Neville’s Cross Bank and in adjacent residential streets. This caused serious traffic congestion and resulted in parking being at such a premium that some parents arrived over 30 minutes early to secure a parking space.
Relly Peth, was also identified as being a particular area for concern because of the risks posed to pedestrians by parents manoeuvring vehicles. Inconsiderate parking also annoyed and inconvenienced local residents.
The school also identified problems with pupils walking to school, although the school is well served by footpaths, there was a problem with crossing the busy A167 at Neville’s Cross; crossing Lowe Barns Bank adjacent to the Duke of Wellington; and, crossing near to the Stone Bridge roundabout.
The School Travel Planning Working Group identified two local public house car parks as locations from which ‘Park and Stride’ initiatives could operate. A third public house was highlighted as a meeting point for a ‘walking only’ walking bus. It was decided that parents would be encouraged to park in the two car parks; adult volunteers would then collect the pupils and escort them for the remaining distance into the school.
For the third public house the group suggested that parents and pupils could meet here and adults would again escort pupils for the rest of the walk to school. Written permission was sought and granted from the two publicans for the Park and Stride sites. A rota of volunteers was drawn up and the Road Safety Team was contacted to carry out risk assessments and training for the volunteers. All three initiatives were launched during Walk to School Week. As a result the school have benefited from a rise in the number of pupils walking to school and a significant reduction in the number of vehicles parked on Relly Peth and elsewhere near the school.
To encourage the pupils and parents to use the walking buses the Working Group devised an incentive scheme. Each day a register is taken of those pupils who are on the walking bus. At the end of the term the number of walks each pupil has completed is totalled up and prizes awarded during a special assembly.
The ‘buses’ operate every morning, rain and shine, and have become a familiar site in the Neville’s Cross area. The school submitted their School Travel Plan for DfES/DfT approval in March 2005 their submission was successful. The school are looking forward to developing their School Travel Plan further.
