On Tuesday Frome Town Council (FTC) hosted a public meeting for their pop up School Street project which starts next month.

The meeting was well attended by residents, parents and other interested parties who came along to hear more about the innovative idea which is being trialled when the schools return. The project's aim is to help reduce congestion, reduce air pollution and encourage school age children to walk and cycle to Oakfield, Trinity and Critchill Schools. This will be achieved by creating an access only trial pop up "School Street." The streets will still be open to residents, disabled drivers, school buses and delivery drivers, but priority will be given to those who are walking, cycling or scooting.

Chaired by Deputy Town Clerk, Peter Wheelhouse, the meeting saw presentations from Travel Consultant Jess Read, who gave an overview of the project, details of the plans and potential benefits. Emma Parker, FTC's Project Officer, also gave an overview of previous projects carried out by FTC which fed into the decision to trial the School Street – namely the successful School Travel Challenge, which has run for three years and encourages students to walk or cycle to school.

The meeting allowed for questions to be asked and areas to be clarified; many residents and parents were able to ask questions and it was great to hear a variety of perspectives and points of view, all of which will be taken on board and fed into the active consultation.

Cllr Anne Hills, who attended the public meeting, said: "We are pleased that so many took the time to attend the meeting and hear all about the plans for the trial, pop up School Street. This is an important emergency active travel measure due to COVID-19 which is designed with the health benefits of us all, but particularly young people in mind. It's important to us that we continue to receive feedback and we would love to hear your thoughts before the trial starts through our online survey. We will be reviewing the project on an ongoing basis to see how it's working - we look forward to the trial starting when the schools return."

FTC have been actively asking for feedback through surveys and a team have been out in the areas around the School Street getting feedback directly from local residents. The survey is still open for comments and can be found here: www.bit.ly/Frome-School-Streets

Further information about the project can be found HERE the Frome Town Council website and some frequently asked questions have been published on the Frome Town Council website: HERE : for FAQs

The trial will start on Monday 7th September with the return of the schools and the first initial review will take place in mid-September, details of this meeting will be made available shortly.