See answers to previous information requests

1. Provide a copy of any meeting minutes or notes where a school street within Wokingham Borough was discussed, including meetings with both internal and external consultants.
Formal meeting notes were not taken during the school streets sessions however some meeting notes taken informally by officers are included in the attachment. The project team (3 WBC officers) generally met fortnightly to discuss progress and run through items such as the school selection process. There were also meetings with four other schools to discuss a potential school street at those locations.

2. Provide a copy of the minutes/notes from the two meetings between the headteacher of Radstock Primary School and Wokingham Borough Council where the proposed school street was discussed.
While no formal meeting notes were taken during these meetings, WBC officer notes from the meetings are included in the attachment where possible. In addition, please see the
accompanying presentation which was used in meeting with Radstock Primary School and the Earley Town Council.
An initial short teams meeting was held with Radstock Primary School on the 2cth June 2023 along with other schools to introduce the concept of the school street scheme for Radstock Primary School and gain understanding if this was something the school would be interested in, informal notes are included in the attachment.

An informal walking survey was conducted to assess the general traffic issues on the 28th September 2023 however no notes were taken during this assessment. Another meeting with the school was conducted on the 14th May 2024 when project consultants Project Centre Limited (PCL) was commissioned to create the preliminary design, traffic survey work and feasibility study, accompanying informal notes are included.

Another meeting was held with the Earley Town Council offices on the 12th June 2024 where PCL and officers from the WBC formally introduced the school streets scheme to the Town Council, informal notes are included.

3. Which schools were considered for the School Street pilot scheme?
To determine a suitable school to implement the scheme, all schools within the borough were assessed through a desktop study against a school street feasibility criterion developed from other boroughs that have successfully implemented a similar scheme previously. This assessment include prioritisation through traffic and safety issues, accessibility for active travel, mode-shift rating and other impacts to the local community.

The initial assessment led to a shortlist of schools that may have been suitable for a school street scheme. Following this, three schools were further assessed and traffic counts completed at these sites to give an impression of the impact a school street would have both on traffic levels in the areas but also potential displacement/redirection. From this work, Radstock Primary School was the preferred option for the pilot.

At this point Project Centre Ltd were appointed to complete a feasibility study and assist with stakeholder engagement and consultation; this work commenced on 18 April. This study however has since deemed this site unsuitable due to accessibility concerns and exceptional displacement
concerns.

4. Why was Radstock Primary School selected for the School Street pilot?
From the desktop study, Radstock Primary School was assessed to be a good candidate due to it’s end of the road position and limited access routes with nearby potential alternate parking to the school that would be ideal in regards to the enforcement of the scheme. The school also reported a history of near misses and traffic safety concerns where a school street scheme could’ve been a positive for the area. In addition, the school’s headteacher showed strong support for the scheme. As this scheme is a pilot, WBC were hoping to select a relatively straightforward site that would demonstrate the principles of a School Street without impacting too many local residents.

5. Why were the alternative schools rejected for the School Street pilot?
All of the schools in the Wokingham Borough were considered in a desktop study internally. It was determined that whilst all schools faced some form of traffic issues, Radstock Primary School would’ve been an ideal candidate as the school showed strong favourability to
introducing the scheme, was in an ideal end of the road location and faced traffic issues predominantly during drop off and pick up times that has historically been a safety issue with the school. Following the introduction of the scheme, key learnings and takeaways would’ve been applied to other suitable schools with the aim to introduce a school street scheme elsewhere, where conditions were ideal.

6. What solutions were considered for the School Street pilot?
Three options were explored for the School Streets pilot in Radstock Primary School. For more details, please see the Feasibility Report, Chapter c.

7. Why was the ANPR camera solution selected?
ANPR camera enforcement was the preferred option of enforcement compared to physical restriction through staff, signs or physical barriers.
Based on similar schemes such as the West Berkshire School Streets Scheme in Calcot Infant and Junior School (https://www.westberks.gov.uk/implementation-school-street-calcot) the use of cameras as opposed to physical barriers could increase scheme compliance up to 63%. It has been identified that similar schemes where only physical barriers, volunteers or signs were used reported issues of anti-social behaviour to the stewards of the scheme and many who still tried to bypass the restriction despite not being exempt to the scheme. For this reason, by using ANPR enforcement, the scheme could save on resources on training and daily coordination of staff, community and volunteers as well as encourage enforcement with minimal risk to those who would choose to support the scheme.

The cost of offending, exemptions to the scheme, and camera locations would have been decided following design and consultation with the school, residents and internal council members. Residents affected are expected to be able to leave and enter within scheme
operation providing they communicate appropriate vehicle registration ahead of the scheme implementation to receive exemption free of charge. Those already within the scheme extents without exemption may similarly leave the premises but may not re-enter.

8. What is the cost of the ANPR camera solution?
Please see the Feasibility Report Chapter 7.

9. Provide a copy of the Feasibility Study for Radstock Lane, Earley to be considered for a school street. As per the ‘responsible officer’ this was completed in June 2024.
Whilst a draft was expected in June, the initial draft was actually completed in July, we have been awaiting a final version which was edited to remove typos and provide further benchmarking information. Please see attached.

10. Please provide a copy of the data analysis from the traffic monitoring cameras installed at the junction of Clevedon Drive/Radstock Lane either in late 2023 or in 2024.
Please see the Feasibility Report Chapter 4.

11. Provide the costs to date of any external consultants working or advising on the proposed school street within Wokingham Borough.
The costs attributed to work conducted on behalf of the school streets scheme is detailed below. This includes Preliminary Design, traffic survey work, engagement support and completion of feasibility study by PCL and traffic counts within three school sites conducted by National Data Collection (NDC ltd).

Preliminary design, traffic survey work, engagement support and completion of feasibility study. (work is now underway assessing the alternative schools to select a new site) (PCL): £24,900
Traffic counts at 3 different schools (NDC ltd): £11,500
Total: £36,400