Normand Park
Traffic Issues

My name is Armaghan and this is Ahmed and we are representing Normand Park school.

The main theme of our project has been about pollution and traffic in our local area. We came to this decision because we looked at photographs from around the world and pollution was one of the main problems.

We all agreed that pollution and traffic are key problems in our local area. A major problem is the traffic on the road outside our school and outside Marshcroft nursery. It is very dangerous crossing our road and there is no zebra crossing or lollipop lady to help us cross the road.

We have questioned the local public with questionnaires on North End Road, we have taken part in European car free day, we have interviewed important people and we have talked to other children in Australia about similar problems. We would like to tell you about what we have found out and our solution to the traffic problem on the Mulgrave road.

Results from the questionnaire
We helped design a questionnaire to ask local people about traffic congestion and pollution in our area. We also wanted their opinion on closing Mulgrave Road, a road that has two schools and where we feel it is unsafe for children crossing the road.

129 people took part in our questionnaire and here are the results.

The majority of people lived in the local area and felt that air pollution was a big problem in Fulham. However 52% felt Mulgrave Road should not be closed permanently as they believed it would cause further traffic congestion and pollution in the area. People though the closure would persuade people to use their cars less but many people felt this would not solve the problem.

Interviewing key people
We interviewed 3 people from Hammersmith and Fulham Council who are involved in transport, travel and the environment. We interviewed a parent from Marshcroft Nursery as well as a representative from the New Deal for Communities and a representative from Friends of the Earth.

All agreed that pollution was a problem and this was caused due to heavy traffic congestion. Some believed that Mulgrave Road should be closed permanently to solve these problems whilst others felt a zebra crossing would also be a good solution. They all believed that people should be encouraged to use their cars less and only for long journeys, which would also help to solve these problems.

Steve Beverley from the Council said it would be better to have the whole area closed to traffic and linked to the park. Paul Baker said that air pollution is not going to stop and it affects health and asthma.

It was really interesting to hear ideas which helped us to think about the problems in our area more carefully. They were also sympathetic to our issues.

Should Mulgrave Road be closed permanently?
We want to argue for two zebra crossings to be put outside the children’s entrances to Normand Park School and Marshcroft Nursery.

This is a really good idea because children and their parents can cross the road safely.

Another reason is that if Mums and Dads have buggies they will have plenty of time to cross the road, even if they need to go slowly.

Some people think Mulgrave Road should be closed permanently, but they’re wrong because zebra crossings make the roads safer and persuade people to slow down by the school. Remember that 52% of people we asked felt that the road should not be closed because it will cause more traffic congestion and therefore more pollution.

We think the best solution is to put zebra crossings or a lollipop person outside every school because it’s safer for children and won’t upset car drivers. Let’s hope that the drivers slow down and think of children’s safety.

Thank you for listening to us and we hope you enjoyed our presentation.