Hackney: I'm appalled at 'criminal sabotage' in lawless school streets and fear a child will be hit by a car

Following tip-offs from residents about “appalling criminal sabotage”, a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Hackney Council revealed that since last June there have been 22 reported instances of criminal damage to school streets infrastructure.

Since 2017, the council has piloted temporary limits on road use outside schools during their opening and closing hours, in a bid to “make it easier and safer to walk and cycle to school”.

For years this policy has been enforced by installing cameras on lampposts and laying speed measurement strips aka ‘traffic counters’ on the tarmac.

The damage is largely concentrated around primary schools in the borough’s Springfield and Cazenove wards.

The school streets most affected are outside Sir Thomas Abney, Holmleigh, Springfield Community and Simon Marks schools.

Most of the reported incidents suggest foul play: vandals have spray-painted over signs or timings, repositioned cameras, cut their wiring or levelled their support posts.

One parent, Craig, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) how a camera post on Castlewood Road, where Springfield Community School is located, was cut by “what looked like an angle grinder” and had snapped at ground height.

“There doesn’t seem to be anyone there to monitor [the street] prevent [attacks] or just physically shut it when it should be shut,” he said, leaving the restricted zones effectively “lawless”.

“It’s totally rammed. The cars are often like pulling out, blowing their horns at each other.

“My kid, he’s seven and he scoots down to school, but I need to have him really close because the cars will mount the pavement and turn into corners.

“Everyone parks in the double yellows – even with the chevrons there. It’s grim, to be honest, and pretty dangerous.”

Another resident, Alice, lambasted drivers acting like they had a “right to drive where they wish, at whatever cost”.

“It is absurd that some believe speed and convenience to be more important than human life,” she told the LDRS.

“If Hackney cannot guarantee that school streets can be enforced and enjoyed, they should close the streets altogether.

“I am certain that a child will soon be hit by a car if action is not taken.”

The FoI response detailed one example where a vehicle had crashed into a school streets sign by Hackney New School on Enfield Road, but it is unclear from the report whether this was a deliberate act of vandalism.

According to the Town Hall, the borough has one of the UK’s largest school streets programmes, affecting 83 per cent of primary and 26 per cent of secondary schools – and over 20,000 pupils.

But the Labour-run administration has faced persistent criticism in recent years over its rollout of 49 school streets and 19 low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).

Some argue these measures have simply led to higher concentrations of air pollution in specific areas, while businesses have complained that the measures disrupt key thoroughfares for customers.

Conservative councillor Simche Steinberger, who represents Springfield ward and ran for the mayoralty on an anti-LTN platform, told the LDRS he “never wants to see vandalism” but stressed that school streets were displacing rather than reducing traffic.

“Originally, nobody in that school ever wanted to have school streets – not the school, not us,” he said.

“I genuinely don’t believe they have done anything, anywhere. Maybe in the road where the school is there’s obviously less traffic, but in the surrounding roads, the traffic has increased by 10 times as much.”

The borough’s transport and climate chief, Cllr Sarah Young, said it was ‘staggering’ that vandals had sought to undermine the council’s aims.

“School streets help to reduce congestion and improve air quality at the school gates, making it easier and safer for children to cycle, scoot, run, walk or wheel their way to school without worry,” she said.

“The fact that some people have chosen to run a campaign of vandalism to undermine safer streets for children on their way to and from school is staggering.

“We work closely with the police to identify and prosecute anyone who carries out these dangerous acts of vandalism.”

The Met has made successful prosecutions and issued formal cautions to people found to have vandalised enforcement cameras, a Town Hall spokesperson added.

Hackney Council has made clear it is committed to assessing all of the borough’s primary and secondary schools for a school street.

On Monday (March 13), Cllr Young announced the council was triggering a public consultation to gather residents’ views on the borough’s transport strategy, including road safety, air quality and accessibility measures.