Plans to ban traffic from streets surrounding six Norfolk schools have been cautiously welcomed by neighbours ahead of a pilot project beginning later in the year.
Norfolk County Council has agreed to trial the Schools Streets scheme, an initiative run by the charity Sustrans, which will see roads immediately next to schools closed to traffic twice a day, during pick-up and drop-off times.
The scheme will initially affect six schools, four in the Norwich area and two in Wymondham, but should it prove a success, the pilot could be extended to further schools across the county.
The six schools selected, Wensum Junior and Nelson Primary in Norwich, Dussindale Primary, St Augustine's Catholic Primary in Costessey and Robert Kett and Browick Road primaries in Wymondham, have each been chosen after reporting to existing traffic troubles to the council.
Neighbours to the schools have welcomed the scheme with cautious optimism ahead of the trial's start, which is earmarked for spring.
Dan Burrill, chairman of Costessey Town Council, said: "It is obviously a pilot but I think it will be interesting to see exactly how it works.
"From a town council point of view, we've been trying to deal with traffic for a long time, offering the Costessey Centre and Breckland Hall as car parks to try and keep people from waiting on the roads.
"One thing that does make me slightly concerned is with St Augustine's being a Catholic school some of their pupils do come from further afield, like Dereham, so it won't be possible for those parents to make journeys by foot.
"It won't solve all of the traffic problems in Costessey at all, but in terms of road safety it could make some difference - it will be interesting to see nonetheless."
Liam Calvert, chairman of the Wensum Residents' Association, however, is a staunch supporter of the proposals, which he described as an "excellent" idea.
He said: "Being able to get to school safely will make a big improvement to the way children experience education as a part of their community. A stress-free walk to school is an excellent way to start the day allowing pupils to be in the right frame of mind to learn
"I have spoken to quite a few of our residents about it and generally people have been overwhelming in their support of the idea.
"Traffic issues have been long known in the area and anything that can be done to help this will be great - and this will help."
Gill Waterton, of the North Wymondham Community Association, said: "I have two grandchildren who go to schools in the town, albeit not the two chosen, and picking them up you see so much traffic around and it just feels like an accident waiting to happen.
"You do constantly worry about something happening so I think removing traffic from around schools is a really good idea.
"I do think it will be very difficult to police though. We have trouble with people parking on double yellow lines near schools already which don't seem to be policed, so this may be difficult as well.
"I think lots of people will welcome it on the whole though."
When the trial begins it will be the first time the scheme has been used in Norfolk, having been rolled out by the charity in various towns and cities across the country.
The initiative derives from a similar scheme founded in Italy in 1989, but it did not arrive in the UK until 2015 in Scotland, with the first English streets to adopt the scheme coming two years later in Camden, London.
There are now School Streets in dozens of locations across the country, including Peterborough, Sheffield and Oxford.
The Norfolk rollout is expected to begin in the spring and last for the remainder of 2022, but fine details of exactly which roads will close are not yet finalised.
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