Work near St Paul’s School this week

A HEADTEACHER has said he is exasperated by work to introduce traffic restrictions near his school, which he says will mean his staff won’t be able to drive to work.

Clive Hale, who is head at St Paul’s Primary School in Elsworthy Road, Primrose Hill, said plans to shut the road during pick-up and drop-off times during the school week are well intentioned but will cause danger for children, inconvenience staff and lead to chaos in the surrounding roads.

This week traffic built up as Primrose Hill Road was closed for pavement-widening work.

“It’s bad for pupils, it’s bad for staff and it’s bad for education,” said Mr Hale. “I want to make it absolutely clear that of course I want the streets around my school to be safer. But it feels like there is an agenda that they are trying to achieve but in achieving that agenda, effectively they aren’t considering the health of the children around the school where the work is happening.”

Machines and workers were ripping up tarmac this week, a few yards away from children as they turned up for school.

Mr Hale said the school had not been informed about a timetable of works nor asked for feedback about roadworks taking place next door to the school playground.

The Healthy School Streets scheme is the latest of several across Camden that is reconfiguring the borough’s road map to discourage driving. Others in Belsize Park, Hampstead and Camden Town have already been introduced.

Mr Hale said: “No teachers can arrive between 8am and 9am according to this. You can get exemptions for some staff, but as we are Camden employees we need to be seen to be supporting the scheme so can’t get exemptions. If we were a cafe or a business, we would. It makes no sense.”

He added: “You have books that teachers have to mark, and other things they will want to bring in. You can’t always do that on a bicycle or on public transport. We have a car park that they can use, but instead they will have to pay to park a street away, at their own expense, for an hour and then come and retrieve it during a breaktime.

“We have contractors, like actors or musicians, come in to do workshops or classes. You can’t expect Florence Nightingale to turn up at 7.55am to park here when school doesn’t start until 9am.”

Mr Hale, who cycles, drives and uses public transport to get into work from his home in West Ealing, fears it will impact staff retention as many can’t afford to live in the expensive streets near the school.

“I have got to support my staff and I can’t see how this helps them at all,” he said, adding that he believed some parents would resort to dropping their children in King Henry’s Road, and the youngsters will walk the rest of the journey on their own.

He had previously raised concerns during the consultation about an increase in pollution.

Parent Lara Max, who has two children at the school, said: “It’s difficult as everyone has mixed feelings about it and everyone wants less pollution and healthier streets.

“It will be harder for things like school plays or nativities when you’re having to transport Santa or elf costumes by carrying them across the road rather than driving.”

Camden said its scheme has seen improved air quality outside schools. It apologised for the disruption due to roadworks and said all work would be finished by October 24.

A spokesperson said: “The scheme has been introduced as an 18-month trial and the council is committed to working with the school and local residents on these proposals ahead of any decision to make the scheme permanent, amend or remove it at the end of the trial period.

“We currently have 21 Healthy School Street projects operating across the borough and where issues may arise, we will always discuss these with the school.

“The policy for exemptions is the same as all related schemes in Camden, none of which offer exemptions to school staff unless they are Blue Badge holders. Those travelling to the school by car will need to arrive outside of the restriction times.

“This is to assist in the overall aim of reducing traffic at peak times at these locations.”