A special celebration took place on Wednesday 13th November, to mark the official launch of the new School Street at Hey with Zion Primary School and St Edwards RC Primary School in Lees.
Cllr Arooj Shah, Leader of Oldham Council, and Dame Sarah Storey, Active Travel Commissioner for Greater Manchester, joined students, parents and staff to celebrate this important step towards making school travel safer and more sustainable.
This School Street is the first in Greater Manchester to use ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras to enforce safe travel practices around the schools. The School Street programme is part of a wider city-region ambition to enable children to walk, wheel, scoot and cycle safely to school.
The event began with Cllr Shah and Dame Storey meeting families and the headteachers from St. Edward's (Mr. McMahon) and Hey with Zion (Deputy Headteacher Mrs. Patterson), along with Cllr Josh Charters (Deputy Cabinet Member for Bee Network Delivery) and the Lees Ward Councillors: Cllr Sam Al-Hamdani, Cllr Mark Kenyon and Cllr Alicia Marland.
By restricting vehicle access around the schools during peak hours, the campaign has already improved road safety and air quality in the area.
Afterwards, Cllr Shah and Dame Storey joined students for a special assembly, where pupils received Bee Network badges from Transport for Greater Manchester as a reminder of the importance of road safety.
The Lees School Street has received enthusiastic feedback from the community since its launch, with many parents highlighting a reduction in congestion and a safer environment for children walking, cycling or scooting to school.
Cllr Arooj Shah, said: “This School Street is about putting our children’s health and safety first. We’ve already seen positive changes in Lees, with more families opting for sustainable travel and children gaining a safer route to school. Oldham is proud to lead in initiatives like this, setting a new standard for school travel in Greater Manchester.”
Dame Sarah Storey, said: “School Streets play a vital role in making journeys to school safer for children, their families and school staff, and the Greater Manchester Mayor has committed to expanding this programme to 100 schemes across the city-region by 2028.
“It is fantastic to visit Oldham to see how they are leading the way with the use of ANPR cameras as part of this School Street, and I look forward to hearing feedback and using that to enable other local authorities to make use of this technology where possible.
“A new School Travel plan is one of my six priorities in the Active Travel Mission and it is important that we build on the positive impact of School Streets and broaden the scope of the work to make better use of all modes of transport within the Bee Network for journeys to and from places of education."
Oldham Council is hopeful that the success of this School Street will inspire more schools across the borough to explore setting up their own School Streets, promoting safer, healthier and more sustainable travel options for families throughout Oldham and Greater Manchester.
To find out more about School Streets, or if you are a school community in Greater Manchester that would like to register interest to open a new school street, please go to: School Streets | TfGM Bee Active