News & Stories

Chestnuts Primary School, Tottenham

Challenge:

Chestnuts Primary School is located near to Chestnuts Park, a large green space with a café and community centre. However, the entrances to the park were not located close to the entrance to the school. Rather than walking or scooting through the park to get to school, many parents walked along a busier, more polluted road which runs alongside the edge of the park (pictured below). Also, pavement space outside the school is very limited – this was made all the more apparent during lockdown as parents tried to social distance in the morning.

Action:

Some parents from the group met with a local community group called Friends of Chestnuts Park. They explained the potential for creating a new park gate directly outside the school entrance to enable more students to access and use the park. The school and Friends of Chestnuts Park pulled together plans and worked together on a number of applications to try and access funding for the new gate. Despite a few early rejections, the groups persevered and within 6 months they managed to secure funding for the gate which was completed in 2019.

Outcome:

The gate is used by the school community to walk and cycle to school, and parents are able to use the park as they wait to drop their children off at school. Logs from a sick tree in the park were also repurposed into a play area for children. The park has now become an important part of school pick up and drop off times, and acts as a buffer from pollution being emitted on the roads.

Getting started…

Speak to your school community about opportunities in and around the school gates to support more people to walk and cycle.

The Clean Air Day school resources webpage gives you access to lots of school resources including; sample newsletters, leaflets and other top tips for engaging with the school community on air pollution.

Living Streets have a guide to getting involved in air quality consultations.

The Clean Air Parents Network are calling for Clean Air Zones, Clean Transport and a new Clean Air Act. Show your support.