We are a group of parents at Kings Heath Primary School concerned about dangerous driving and air pollution around the school gates.

With the backing of the school's Headteacher, we are calling on the council to implement a Car Free School Street for KHPS as soon as possible. 

The situation outside our school has become increasingly problematic, with thoughtless and sometimes aggressive drivers, including parents, parking cars across the roads, on pavements, blocking footways, idling engines, and driving recklessly. In a recent incident, someone reversed over the zebra crossings, almost hitting children on their way into class. 

This is completely unacceptable. We fear daily for our children’s safety. 

School staff have written on multiple occasions to parents to ask them to refrain from parking and stopping in the area but the problem continues. 

Car Free School Streets is a pioneering initiative to transform the roads outside schools so that only people who are walking, wheeling and cycling can use them at school drop off and pick up times.

The idea is simple – at set times every day, the streets around schools are closed to motor vehicles. Signs are put up to inform drivers of the road closure, and barriers or cameras can be used to enforce it.

Residents, local businesses, and blue badge holders can apply, free of charge, for a permit allowing access while the restrictions are in place.

The Birmingham City Council website outlines that the Car Free School Streets  scheme aims to:

• Cut down on traffic and parking pressures outside schools;
• discourage car journeys to school and encourage walking and cycling;
• make the streets outside schools safer at the start and end of the day;
• improve air quality and create a more pleasant environment for everyone.

There are more than 430 English schools with Car Free School Streets, including 17 Car Free School Streets in Birmingham, three in Kings Heath at Colmore Junior and Infant School; St Dunstan’s Catholic School; and Woodthorpe Junior and Infant School.

In feedback from previous Birmingham Car Free School Streets, consistently over 70% of residents have said the pilot should continue and over 70% that other schools would benefit. One said: “It’s the best decision ever to have been taken. It’s much safer for kids.”

Road safety

In 2013, one child a week was killed, and 37 were seriously injured, on UK roads. Other data from 2017 shows that 37% of these deaths happened on the journey either to or from school. Car Free School Streets offer an obvious solution. In July of this year, a child from Kings Heath Primary School was hospitalised after being struck by a speeding motorist while crossing the high street on the way to school so our children and community understand firsthand the danger thoughtless driving poses.

Air pollution

Air pollution is a particular problem for children and pregnant women. According to the World Health Organisation

Air pollution impacts neurodevelopment and cognitive ability and can trigger asthma, and childhood cancer. Children who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease later in life.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution because they breathe more rapidly than adults and so absorb more pollutants.  They are also closer to the ground, where some pollutants reach peak concentrations, further increasing the emissions they breathe in at a time when their brains and bodies are still developing. 

We believe the introduction of a Car Free School Street outside Kings Heath Primary School is an immediate priority to protect our children and our community.

Please sign this petition to show your support and share in the comment box whether you are parent/carer, staff, local resident, or other stakeholder, and why you are in favour.

Thank you!

Image by Frietzi, KHPS Year One pupil.