Motorists face being fined for driving down 33  streets in Croydon as the council rolls out new locations for its healthy streets programme, which bans cars from school roads at certain times of the day.


From today (Monday March 13)  Croydon Council council rolled out another batch of its Healthy School Streets which limits traffic around schools at drop-off and pick-up times.

The latest restricted roads were approved back in December with the aim of improving safety around schools and encouraging more children to walk, cycle or scoot.

Included in the latest roll out is St James the Great Primary School in Thornton Heath with the new restrictions covering Windsor Road and Apostle Road.

Chris Andrew, Headteacher at St. James the Great Primary and Nursery School (pictured left) said:“I’m hoping a Healthy School Street will be better safety-wise for our children, encourage more of our families to walk or scoot or ride to school more often – which is healthier and better for the environment.

“I certainly think it will help with the local residents who must get fed up – in fact I get complaints often regularly – that people have blocked their drives, or they can’t get out of the road because it’s gridlocked.”

The new locations include:

Kensington Avenue Primary School and Norbury High School for Girls – Kensington Avenue, Buckingham Avenue, Buckingham Gardens, Golf Close, Willowtree Way and Hawthorn Avenue – Norbury.

Harris Academy South Norwood (Beulah Hill Campus ) – Spurgeon Road and Spurgeon Avenue – South Norwood.

Kensington Avenue Primary School and Norbury High School for Girls – Kensington Avenue, Buckingham Avenue, Buckingham Gardens, Golf Close, Willowtree Way and Hawthorn Avenue – Norbury.

Rockmount Primary School – Chevening Road, Rockmount Road, Orleans Road and Ilkey Close – Upper Norwood.

Those who live near the school are able to apply for a free exemption permit which means they can continue to access the roads at all times.

Permits are also available to those who may need access, including transport for children with special needs, while emergency services and bin lorries are automatically exempt.

The new school streets are being introduced as an 18-month trial initially while public consultation and data monitoring takes place. During the first six months, the council collects formal objections and feedback on the schemes.

The introduction of the latest school streets brings the total number of schemes operating in the borough to over 30.

Croydon’s deputy mayor, Lynne Hale, said: “Helping families make the school run safer and healthier is part of our wider plans to improve how we travel around Croydon, and we are trialling these schemes to see if they can achieve those goals.”