Bristol School Streets: Southville Primary – Myrtle Street

Bristol City Council and Southville Primary – Myrtle Street are working together to make the journey to school safer. Following the 2025 consultation on the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood, a proposed School Street has been designed for Southville Primary School at the Myrtle Street site.

We are now seeking feedback on the School Street at Mrytle Street proposals. To give your opinion please fill in the survey which will close on Monday 21st December.

Complete the survey

The School Street proposal is part of a wider plan to help make Southville and North Street easier to walk, wheel and cycle. Other measures include accessibility improvements such as dropped kerbs with tactile paving, more street trees and improved crossings. The revised proposals were launched in September see: South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhoods. The Full Business Case is under development and will be considered by the Transport and Connectivity Committee in due course. 

To date, Bristol City Council has successfully launched the School Streets scheme with twenty primary schools in the city, and we are now looking to extend this to Southville Primary – Myrtle Street.

The main aims of Bristol School Streets are to: 

  • Improve the air quality and environment at the school gates, making it a more pleasant space for everyone 
  • Lower the volume of traffic around the school gates 
  • Improve road safety for pupils and their families 
  • Encourage more pupils to walk, wheel, cycle or scoot to school 
School streets zone map of Southville Primary School and Myrtle Street is highlighted in orange to identify the restrictions and area affected.

  • To reduce traffic danger and congestion in the area, Bristol City Council is proposing to turn Myrtle Street into a walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting-only zone at school start and finish times.

    Vehicles would not be permitted to enter the zone between 8:15am and 9:15am in the morning and 2:45pm and 3:40pm in the afternoon. Emergency vehicles, specific Blue Badge holders requiring access to the school and residents of Myrtle Street may apply for a permit to enable access during the School Street operational periods.

  • The scheme would be enforced using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras. ANPR cameras record the number plates of vehicles that pass a certain point on a road where rules apply. This would be at the edge of the School Street zone.

    Emergency vehicles, specific Blue Badge holders requiring access to the school and residents of Myrtle Street may apply for a permit to enable access during the School Street operational periods.  

    The system then checks each number plate against a list of vehicles that are allowed through. If a vehicle is not on the list, the owner is sent a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for breaking the rules.

    ANPR cameras are proposed to be used at Southville Primary – Mrytle Street within the SBLN project as they connect to the wider traffic management of the area. This will ensure that people accessing the area by car will have a consistent approach to signage and enforcement.

    For the first 6 months of operation, a first offence will get a warning notice, and any subsequent offence will get a full PCN.  After 6 months, every offence will get a PCN regardless of whether it’s a first offence or not.

    Warning notices rather than PCNs will be issued to everyone for the first three weeks (even repeat offenders) to ensure that the registered keeper doesn’t end up with lots of full PCNs before the first warning notice arrives in the post.

    Advanced warning signs would be installed. All vehicles already parked in the zone before the times of operation would be able to exit without incurring a fixed penalty notice.

  • School Streets will make it easier for Blue Badge holders to access the school entrances by reducing traffic outside the school gates. Children, parents, carers or staff members holding a Blue Badge, who require access to the school, will be exempt. These Blue Badge holders will need to apply for exemptions by providing their vehicle registration to the school. The school will required to provide the council with a comprehensive list of their exempt Blue Badge holders and update this as needed. These registration numbers will then be added to the council database of exemptions for this specific School Street. All other Blue Badge holders’ will be required to use an alternative route.

  • We would ask people with additional access requirements and those with disabilities to contact the Bristol School Streets team to discuss any personal access needs as they may be eligible for an exemption access permit.

  • Parents or carers dropping children at school will not be eligible for an exemption, unless you or your child are a Blue Badge holder, resident of Myrtle Street or have access needs. We are pleased that parents at our existing Bristol School Streets schools are embracing the scheme and are choosing to walk, cycle or scoot where possible.

  • School staff will need to be inside the School Street zone area before it comes into operation. Only staff who have a Blue Badge will be exempt. School staff will be able to leave the zone during the times of operation without requiring an access permit.

  • Bristol School Streets aims to encourage and prioritise a safe environment around schools to allow for walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting. Parents and carers who feel they need to drive will need to park legally nearby and walk the remainder of the journey.

  • We are working with the school to promote active travel to school, which includes walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting. We are also looking at identifying suitable park and stride locations, enabling parents and carers to park slightly further away from the school and walk the remaining distance.

    Evidence suggests that where School Streets have been implemented, the result is a reduction in car use rather than displacement to surrounding streets. We would continue to monitor the impact of the scheme once it has been implemented.

  • Myrtle Street should be visibly calmer and feel safer during these times. Data will be collected before the scheme is implemented and monitored once the measures are in place, so we can access the change in traffic levels and how pupils are travelling to school. We will continue to review feedback from the school and local community.

    Bristol City Council would like to hear your views on the proposals which can be done by taking part in a short survey. The survey can be accessed by clicking the link below and will close at 23.59 on Monday 21st December.