St Joseph's Primary School

As part of our commitment to make our streets cleaner, greener, and healthier, we held a consultation to deliver improvements to the environment outside St Joseph’s Primary School on Highgate Hill and Dartmouth Park Hill. The consultation ran from Monday, 14 November to Sunday, 18 December 2022.  

Due to the location of the school, it is not possible to introduce traditional School Street measures where we temporarily close the streets to traffic at drop-off and pick-up times. Instead, we proposed greening measures and footway improvements will increase space between the roads and school, creating a safer and healthier environment.

Key findings from the consultation

We first engaged with local people, businesses and the school community in September 2022 where we asked people what are the current issues with the street environment outside the school. Using this feedback we developed designs for Dartmouth Park Hill and Highgate Hill and we held a public consultation in Autumn 2022. 

We received 128 responses to the online survey. We also delivered a workshop with selected pupils from the school. You can find the detailed results in the consultation report (also located in the 'Useful documents' section at the bottom of this webpage). 

The feedback received from the consultation demonstrates that the public generally supports the aims of the environmental improvements proposed outside the school. 

How we have transformed Dartmouth Park Hill

In spring 2023, we introduced the following improvements to the environment outside the school entrance on Dartmouth Park Hill:

• installed new bollards to prevent people from parking illegally outside the school entrance and reduce pollution from engine idling
• widened and resurfaced the pavement to make it easier for people to walk, wheel and use buggies
• created a continuous footway across the school vehicle entrance to give people walking priority over vehicles
• improved the zebra crossing to create a safer space for people crossing the road. 

How we plan to transform Highgate Hill

We will be introducing the following improvements outside the school on Highgate Hill this summer 2023 to significantly improve the environment: 

• introduce colourful artwork on the road outside the school to make drivers aware of the school and encourage them to slow their speed
• introduce new greening to include trees and low level planting beds to create a nicer environment and provide a separation between the road and the pavement
• install seating to provide a space for families and local people to sit, rest and chat
• install cycle parking stands to make it easier for families to cycle or scoot to school
• resurfacing the pavement in places where it is damaged. This will make it safer for pedestrians, particularly buggies and wheelchairs
• widening the pavement outside the school, moving traffic and its emissions further from the school gate and improving air quality
• creating a continuous footway at the junction of Waterlow Road and Highgate Hill to give greater priority to people walking over vehicles. 

To deliver these improvements we will be required to remove 32.4 metres of parking spaces (approximately six parking spaces) outside the school. You can see a diagram of the changes in the St Joseph's Highgate Hill consultation results and next steps leaflet.

Next steps for Highgate Hill

We're proposing to implement the improvements on a permanent basis from July 2023. We will be doing this under a Traffic Management Order (TMO), which is subject to a statutory consultation.

The objection period for the statutory consultation closed on Friday, 14 July 2023. Please note that any formal objection that was submitted may become a public document and could be published.

Works to enable the improvements

Due to unforeseen circumstances, works to install the improvements were delayed and will begin on Monday 31 July and will take approximately 12 weeks to complete. Highgate Hill will not be closed to vehicles but will be reduced to a single traffic lane for some stages of construction. 

We will also be suspending some parking bays during the works to enable the works to happen safely. Signs will be put up in the area to advise which parking bays will be suspended and residents will receive a letter with further information on the works. 

If you have any questions on the works or scheme, please contact: SchoolStreets@islington.gov.uk.