The Chair invited Cllr McLean to speak to the call-in.  

·         The consultation began on the 19th September 2020 and concluded on the 31st of July 2021 and saw letters delivered to 157 properties. 73 responses were received with 58 of those responses from within the Aragon Road zone.

·         I would like to highlight that of the 58 responses within the Aragon Road Zone there were 39 objections and only 19 responses in support. Plus 8 of the 19 that the Council labelled as ‘in support’ also stated objections to the scheme.  

·         The Council did not mention to residents in any of the literature that if they did not actively object, then they would be considered to not object to the scheme. Furthermore, when reporting the results, the Council does not distinguish between the people who actively supported the scheme and those who did not object. This therefore calls into question the validity of the results that have been reported.

·         There appears to be an increasing level of misunderstanding amongst residents regarding the exemption process and the contraventions if the scheme becomes permanent. This scheme needs to be paused before becoming permanent with a fuller consultation conducted and concerns of the residents addressed. 

Cllr Nick Mclean responded to questions of clarification from the Panel;

·         There is an opportunity for the Council to demonstrate that it listens. What has been highlighted here is the residents have shown their concern and have asked for some flexibility. Other councils show flexibility with policy. 

·         We reviewed all the results of the consultations, and we felt that Aragon, in particular, really stood out with regards to results and the objections. We felt that this particular school street, and the response from the consultation was out of kilter compared to the others. 

The Chair invited Luke Mcarthy, Chair of Merton Residents Transport Group, to speak;

·         The five key benefits of school streets are climate change, air pollution, safety and health and wellbeing(which includes both exercise and educational benefits)

·         Over 50% of pupils live within 800 metres of the school as it has a very small catchment area, so it's actually very suitable for large numbers of pupils to walk or cycle to school. Also very accessible by those living beyond that 800 metre zone. 

·         A lack of understanding in terms of the eligibility criteria and how the exemption process works has contributed to the resident objections.  These are things that the Council could have improved in the way the scheme was put in place and subsequently communicated to residents. 

The Head of Future Merton elaborated in response to a question of clarification that throughout the consultation the exemptions policy has been edited and developed in response to comments and feedback from residents. Merton has one of the most generous exemption policies compared to other councils in London for school streets. We have received comments about Ringo’s lack of usability and convenience and recognise this could be improved.

Parking services have been trying to get improvements to make it easier for people to get exemptions on school streets via the system. 

Action:  Head of Future Merton to get further detail on this from parking services.

The Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and the Climate Emergency added;

We've had a very large roll out of 28 school streets across the borough which is one of the highest numbers of any London borough. It has measurably changed the environment outside many schools, making it safer for children as well as encouraging them to walk, cycle and scoot. In terms of Aragon Road we have listened to the representations that have been made and we are reducing the hours of operation by fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes in the afternoon. And to echo previous comments, we do have a flexible exemption scheme.

The Panel moved to a vote on the recommendations listed in the report worded as follows - That the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel consider the information provided in response to the call-in request and decide whether to:

A. Refer the decision back to the Cabinet Member for reconsideration; or

B. Decide not to refer the matter back to the Cabinet Member, in which case the decision shall take effect immediately

There were two votes in favour of recommendation A (Cllr David Dean and Cllr Daniel Holden), four votes in favour of option B and one abstention.

The Panel RESOLVED not to refer this decision back to the Cabinet Member, and therefore it will take immediate effect.

Following the vote, a motion was raised by a Panel Member to recommend that Cabinet review the following four items:

·         its consultation processes where experimental traffic orders are used to implement school safety zones: to make clearer how proposals are adapted in the light of consultation responses; and to include the measurement of air pollution and relevant traffic levels before the permanent decision is made;

·         signage to alert drivers about the zones;

·         information provided on the operation of the zones; and

·         on a regular basis, the criteria and operation of school safety zone permits”

The motion was seconded. There were three votes in favour, four against. Motion fell.

The Panel RESOLVED (seven votes in favour) to request officers produce, for the first session of the new scrutiny term, a lessons learned paper on the implementation of school streets.