Dundalk councillor calls for car free zone outside schools for pupils' welfare

Dundalk Green Party councillor, Marianne Butler, has urged Louth County Council to look at an initiative that is taking place at two schools in Malahide to improve the safety and well-being of pupils, and consider adopting it at schools in Dundalk.

Cllr Butler raised the topic at the Dundalk Municipal District December meeting, when she explained that schools in Malahide have begun an initiative called School Streets, where the area outside the school gates are designated car free zones.

In Malahide, two primary schools are taking part in the pilot scheme, where only pedestrians and cyclists are permitted in the car free zone. 

Among the reasons for beginning the initiative in Malahide were, according to Fingal County Council, the challenges posed by school gate congestion, unsafe parking and blocking of footpaths, road safety risks due to vehicular movements, children being exposed to excess air pollution, and car-dependent children being less physically active.

Cllr Butler highlighted the situation at some schools in Dundalk at the moment, where parents pick up and drop off their children at the school gates, and pointed to the benefits such an initiative would bring, including cleaner air.

The Green Party councillor was asked in response, to forward the information she had on the initiative to the Council, so it could examine it further.