Travelling to school without a car?
Everyone in Warwickshire is being asked to express their opinion on a new five-year plan looking at how to get children to school in a greener way.
20 years ago seven in ten children were walking or cycling to school, now it’s one in ten.
In this time asthma and childhood obesity has increased and Warwickshire County Council is now looking to pull together many different initiatives to create a five-year plan on getting children to school in a healthier and more sustainable way.
The Sustainable School Travel Strategy 2007-2012 has been drafted and people are being asked for their views on the document.
There is a questionnaire and summary of the strategy at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sustainableschooltravelstrategy and comments are welcome until July 18.
Cllr Martin Heatley, the county council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “Whether it’s school walking buses, road safety projects or school transport, the strategy aims to bring all of these things under one umbrella.
“We are all aware of the problems of the school run. One in four cars on our roads in the mornings during term time are on the school run, causing congestion and pollution in our towns and villages. The strategy has clear objectives about how to take things forward and we now welcome people’s views as part of the consultation on the strategy.”
Objectives of the strategy include:
Providing information on all travel to school schemes currently available;
Identifying areas to improve the travel options available to children and young people;
Reducing the number of cars used for education purposes;
And publicising the benefits of alternative travel.