A Belfast councillor is calling for roads around schools to be closed at the start and end of the school day.
SDLP Councillor for Lisnasharragh Séamas de Faoite this week tabled a motion at the council’s Standards and Business Committee calling for a school street scheme pilot in the city. Similar schemes in Dublin and parts of Britain see the roads outside schools closed during drop-off and pick-up times.
The motion states the schemes have “multiple benefits of improving road safety for pupils, encouraging active travel to school by walking, cycling and public transport, and improving the air quality around schools”.
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The motion further “commends Fingal County Council, which has successfully pioneered the scheme at many schools in North County Dublin” and notes the council does not have the statutory powers to introduce such a scheme in Belfast, either in pilot or permanent form.
It calls upon the Stormont Department for Infrastructure to “urgently bring forward a school streets pilot project in Belfast, identifying a number of pilot schools across the city” and suggests that the council’s area working groups agree on a number of schools in each area to recommend to the Department as part of a pilot scheme.
The motion also promises to “explore further ways to work with all relevant partners to develop School Streets and support measures to cut vehicle emissions and pollution in the vicinity of schools, including enforceable no-idling zones, air quality measuring and tree planting as part of the One Million Trees initiative”.
Councillor de Faoite told the chamber: “Since the public documentation went out about this particular motion, I’ve had parents from all over the city contact me who support it. We would not have brought this if we were not in a position where the Stormont Department for Infrastructure did not move so slowly on this particular issue.”
Elected representatives agreed to debate the proposal later this month at the Belfast City Council Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.
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