Headteacher blames LTN as late arrivals soar by a third

A LOW-TRAFFIC neighbourhood (LTN) that brought gridlock to public transport caused a 30 per cent surge in school pupils arriving late as they navigated “heavy traffic and fumes”, a headteacher has revealed.

The head at Julian’s Primary School in Streatham, London has said parents and teachers were so worried about “health implications” caused by road closures funnelling traffic onto boundary routes that some considered “moving out of the area”.

The comments about the Streatham Wells LTN introduced by Labour-run Lambeth Council in October have emerged in response to freedom of information requests to the school.

Sam Linton, the school’s head, said that in the seven weeks before the LTN was introduced 554 pupils arrived late. But over a six-week period after the LTN was set up there were 717 late arrivals.

She wrote: “So one less week but over 150 more late arrivals.”

Ms Linton said teachers “stood at the schoolgate every morning and at the end of the day and would see how congested the road was, with traffic often stopped outside the school, particularly during busy periods for the school.”

She added: “The children would have to navigate through this heavy traffic and fumes to enter the school.

“Parents/carers would raise their concerns about the health implications and discuss the possibilities of moving out of the area.”

She said the LTN had caused such stress to teachers struggling to get to work that “some staff have been looking outside of London for teaching posts.”

The Telegraph has revealed how a headteacher at nearby Bishop Thomas Grant School said tutors ran patrols after a surge in muggings of pupils on “ghost town” streets created by the LTN.

Lambeth council suspended the LTN in March over concerns public transport had been affected, but campaigners insist it should be banned outright.

Public transport was found to have ground to a near halt on the A23, a main artery out of south London.

Ms Linton wrote that the main road was “gridlocked [and] air quality was definitely negatively affected by the LTN.” She added: “The LTN significantly impacted on staff attendance and punctuality. This then had a knock-on effect of ensuring that staff were available to cover classrooms until their teacher arrived in school”

A Lambeth council spokesman said the LTN was introduced “to reduce road danger and make the neighbourhood safer and healthier”.