School Streets co-design
School Streets Co-design Projects
Hounslow Council is partnering with the charity, Sustrans to develop and test community-led designs that propose some physical changes to the space, to create nicer places to spend time in around two schools in the borough. To do this, we are working with young people, the school community and local residents to reimagine the space together.
Where will this be taking place?
Ivybridge Primary School in Isleworth and Strand on the Green Infant and Junior Schools in Chiswick will be taking part in the project. School Street measures have been operational on Brooks Lane since 2004 and were introduced on the cul-de-sac section of Summerwood Road in 2020. Both schools are Gold accredited by TfL under the Travel for Life programme for their commitments to active and sustainable travel.
Discover Phase update – September/October
The first stage of this process, the “Discover” stage, was focused on understanding the current opportunities and challenges in the respective project areas.
During the first half-term, a number of engagement events were held at both schools to meet the local community, school staff and families. The project team facilitated a series of events to engage with a wide cross section of the community. This included an online residents meeting, an online perception survey, a pop-up stall outside the school, and a workshop with pupils.
To celebrate World Car-Free Day on 22 September, a Play Street was also hosted at both locations. The streets outside of the schools were closed to vehicular traffic beyond the usual School Street hours to provide space and time for crafts, play, music, and games. Local stakeholders were invited to come along and enjoy the afternoon with their families. Additionally, the children had the opportunity to take part in a co-design activity and vote for the changes they would like to see to the street. Their contributions will be considered alongside the 200+ responses received via the online perception survey which closed on 20 October.
Pupil Voting Activity
Strand on the Green Play Street
Ivybridge Healthy Streets Design CheckCo-design Phase update – November/December
The second stage of the process, the ‘Co-design’ phase was focused on working with the community to consider design solutions to the main issues highlighted to us at the 'Discover' stage.
We held several engagement events, some focused on school children and others aimed at local residents, school staff and parents. We used interactive engagement boards to explore various design options for different ‘zones’ of the school street with all stakeholders (see photos below). Additionally, we held a whole school co-design day at Ivybridge Primary School and Strand on the Green Junior School where every pupil had the chance to show and tell us their ideas for the school street. Bio-diversity workshops were also held with select pupils at all three schools to consider how we can improve greening and attract wildlife.
In total, 11 different engagement events were held between 22nd November and 12th December across the two School Streets.
Engagement at Strand Christmas Fair
Whole school co-design day
Pop-up at Ivybridge Primary
Test phase update - February/March
Following a period of project development, a concept design for each School Street was presented at Ivybridge and Strand on the Green schools in the last week of February. This involved speaking to parents and local residents at pick-up time, door-knocking the immediate houses next to the schools and hosting an indoor drop-in session in the evening. Online surveys were available for those unable to attend in person. The aim of this phase was to showcase a concept design proposal to the community and collect feedback from stakeholders. Engagement boards were displayed to present the key themes and ask people to feedback on which elements they liked and anything they would change. The findings from this phase have been reviewed and will help to inform further design development.
Test event at Ivybridge
Test event at StrandWhat’s next?
Sustrans have now handed the project over to the transport team at Hounslow Council for detailed design. Exact timescales will be confirmed closer to the time but public consultation is projected to take place in autumn 2024 and construction will be carried forward in phases from early 2025. This approach is being taken due to the ambitious nature of the project, allowing us to deliver interventions as and when funding is made available.
You can also find the ‘Discover’, ‘Co-design’ and 'Test' reports from the last three stages of the project on the righthand side of this page for further information on the findings and milestones to date.
Further updates will be available here as the project develops.
Get in touch
For any questions about the co-design projects at Ivybridge or Strand on the Green, please email STA@hounslow.gov.uk.
Paper copies of all consultations and surveys are available. To request one, please email consult@hounslow.gov.uk or call 020 8583 2000.
