Consultation on expanding School Streets monitoring ends next week
“It’s so much quieter now – we feel safer cycling to school!”
That’s what pupils at Greenleas Primary School are saying since Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras were introduced to their School Street.
Wirral Council is currently looking to expand the enforcement capabilities around ‘School Streets’, which has proven to be a successful road safety initiative that discourages people from driving near schools at drop-off and pick-up times.
A consultation on the potential introduction of Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at five more schools in the borough comes to an end next week.
More information and links to take part in the consultation can be found on the council’s consultation website, Have Your Say - Moving Traffic Enforcement | Have your say Wirral
The consultation runs until 28th July 2025.
The process to extend the scheme follows a successful implementation of ANPR technology at Greenleas in Wallasey – which was, coincidentally, the very first School Streets scheme in Wirral.
The cameras monitor and check the number plates of vehicles that drive into the School Street area during the hours of operation – which coincide with school drop off in the morning and pick-up in the afternoon.
If a vehicle has not been registered for an exemption – for example because it belongs to resident or someone who works in the area – the registered keeper may receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for driving into the area without authorisation.
This legislation also allows local authorities to enforce parking restrictions together with some moving traffic offences, like making prohibition of entry, banned left / right turns, exceeding weight limits and stopping in yellow box junctions.
In order for the council to legally enforce these restrictions it must first successfully apply for Moving Traffic Enforcement Powers in each of the locations – and part of that process is consultation with local residents so that people have their chance to offer their views on the proposal before the Department of Transport make their decision to grant the council enforcement powers.
The five School Streets areas covered by this new process are around:-
- Raeburn Primary School, Eastham
- St. George’s Primary School, Wallasey
- Christ Church CofE Primary School, Moreton?
- Liscard Primary School, Wallasey
- St Alban’s Primary School, Wallasey
Any implementation of the new powers at those locations using ANPR technology is subject to funding.
