School Street Zone

MysteryMe

theoretica said:

This particular version exempts liveried delivery vehicles (eg supermarket, royal mail), lets other delivery vehicles register and lets your register carers and on-off guests etc (though oddly says tradesmen should arrive before rather than being registered as guests...)  If your small print allows something similar it might help reduce worries?

https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20011/parking_transport_and_streets/2275/school_streets_-_your_questions_answered/3

Unless the scheme was operated along the lines of this, I would not consider buying a property with those kinds of restrictions.

rexmedorum

The answer surely is: go and have a look on a school day ideally both at drop-off and pick-up times? Got to be worth taking a day off if need be, if you're serious about the house.

getmore4less

Don't scemes like this just kick the problem down the street to the end of the restriction, then if parents walk their kids the cars are parked up for longer.

steve866

Kitsy12 said:

Hi all, 

We are buying a house near a school (which we had no problem with, despite not having children, we would have a drive and it is a small school so shouldn't cause issues). We have just been told that the road is going to become a School Street Zone. 

How does a School Street work?

A School Street is a timed street closure during drop-off and pick-up times outside a school. Usually these last for 1-1.5hrs at the start and end of the school day, tailored to each school’s start and finish times.

The School Streets will operate Monday-Friday during term times.

Only people walking or cycling, and those with a specific vehicle exemption permit will be eligible to enter the zone. Anyone else driving into the zone during the stated times will receive a fine. You do not need to have an exemption permit to exit from the School Street.

If you were a prospective buyer (thinking of the future) would this put you off buying? We are wondering if it affects saleability. Obviously, we had accepted it was near a school but this feel particularly cumbersome for deliveries and visitors. Worth noting that it seems the one relevant to us would only be 30 mins twice a day rather than the 1-1.5 hours noted below, although assume the council could change this. 

How far do you live from the entrance of the zone? If a delivery driver had to park and walk how far would it be?

From reading about some other schemes there’s seems to be a disparity in rules across different councils. Some don’t allow any delivery drivers or taxis down for example.

I used to get taxis to the airport frequently in a previous role so it would be a no no for me if the house is far away from the edge of the zone.

Having said that, if you don’t think it would affect you personally I don’t think it will give you a smaller pool of buyers, they’ll be a general trend to more restrictions like this coming into place more generally.

peterhjohnson

Kitsy12 said:

Like you said it's the deliveries etc- I can't work out if this is going to put prospective (future) buyers off, so wanted to canvas opinion a little. 

The aspect I've highlighted would put me off 

MobileSaver

Kitsy12 said:

it seems we can get an exception on any delivery vehicle (liveried or otherwise) as long as we register them before the end of the day that they entered the zone. Which is useful also. 

My concern would have been around delivery drivers but this exception would completely remove any such concern so I think it's a non-issue.

Section62 said:

Likely only to be useful if you know the registration mark of the vehicle, and assuming the driver hasn't seen the signs and driven off without making the delivery.  It also raises the question about who (ultimately) pays the "fine" if the resident forgets to register the vehicle in time.

Any "fine" can only be to the driver or registered keeper of the vehicle and similarly there will presumably be signs at the street entrance as a reminder to drivers to give their registration mark to the delivery recipient. Most couriers have regular drivers anyway so they'll quickly learn to give their reg number when delivering.

If it works the same as other School Street Zones then liveried delivery vehicles are automatically exempt and any other delivery driver that receives a "fine" can easily get it cancelled by supplying proof of the delivery.

Tradespeople will obviously have to work around the School Zone times but let's be honest that's unlikely to happen often enough to ever be an issue.

D123456789

Our school street is having a trial at present and the temporary gates are manned by volunteers / parents from the school. If a tradesperson comes and identifies the house they are going to they are let through to  drive slowly with hazards on. Soon it will be camera operated. The surrounding streets can be chaos with drop offs and pick ups.I think living near a school is the issue that will or will not put off buyers more than the school street zone, in our area anyway…

seven-day-weekend

Great idea.  It certainly wouldn't put me off; I would welcome it!

Section62

MobileSaver said:

Kitsy12 said:

it seems we can get an exception on any delivery vehicle (liveried or otherwise) as long as we register them before the end of the day that they entered the zone. Which is useful also. 

My concern would have been around delivery drivers but this exception would completely remove any such concern so I think it's a non-issue.

It is Ok whilst the scheme operates that way - but the method of operation can change.  It is much easier for an LA to tweak the method of operation of restricted/charging zones once they are in place than it is to establish them in the first place.  (People affected by London's congestion charge zone know this only too well)

I would approach the issue on the basis that any exemption (except possibly for blue badge holders) could be removed at some point in the future, and base my decision making on that.

MobileSaver said:

Section62 said:

Likely only to be useful if you know the registration mark of the vehicle, and assuming the driver hasn't seen the signs and driven off without making the delivery.  It also raises the question about who (ultimately) pays the "fine" if the resident forgets to register the vehicle in time.

Any "fine" can only be to the driver or registered keeper of the vehicle and similarly there will presumably be signs at the street entrance as a reminder to drivers to give their registration mark to the delivery recipient. Most couriers have regular drivers anyway so they'll quickly learn to give their reg number when delivering.

If it works the same as other School Street Zones then liveried delivery vehicles are automatically exempt and any other delivery driver that receives a "fine" can easily get it cancelled by supplying proof of the delivery.

Tradespeople will obviously have to work around the School Zone times but let's be honest that's unlikely to happen often enough to ever be an issue.

I'm interpreting the "we" in the OP's comment literally - that the residents have the responsibility for registering the vehicle registrations.  There's a hassle-factor involved in that.

But, whilst a "fine" can only be sent to the registered keeper, the person who ultimately pays it isn't necessarily that person or organisation. Individuals/companies could seek to recover the cost of a "fine" from a resident who forgot to register the vehicle on time.

Making a different entity responsible for registering a vehicle to the one receiving the "fine" is a messy way of doing things, although enabling the drivers to register themselves would open the scheme to abuse.

Overall I think the benefits/disbenefits of a scheme like this depend on your personal situation.  If you already live in a road like this you may well welcome the relief of not having parent's cars clogging up the street twice a day.  If you don't already live in a road like this it is a reminder of the hassle which comes from living near a school in modern times.  It will affect people's buying decisions.

rexmedorum

We live near a school back entrance and are being consulted on a school street scheme. If I were to move I certainly would be put of living near a school WITHOUT a school street scheme in place.