LOCAL Sefton school children have been having their say on their local area improvements. 

Sefton Council with the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans) have spent the past year working with pupils and the wider school community to create a list of prioritised improvements that will make the school journey safer and more enjoyable.

Some changes have already been made, like the addition of a Park and Stride at Bootle Leisue Centre, that encourage school children and their families to choose to walk, wheel or cycle to school.

Within the North Park area, many pupils live within a 10 minute walk to school, with most pupils living much less than 5km of their local primary school. 

Cllr Diane Roscoe, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families said:- "This work is about making the streets around the school nicer and safer to be in, so more people want to walk, wheel or cycle to school. The kids love it."

Local pupils said they wanted to see improvements like:-

• more seating, greenery, artwork, better lighting and more bins, and safer crossings
• less dog muck, reduced speed limits, and parking restrictions like a school street (where a road outside a school is temporarily closed to traffic during school drop-off and pick-up times)

The Council are defining a programme of improvements to start in 2026, and these changes will start to be implemented this year.

To help decide specific improvements to be considered, workshops were held with pupils, pop-ups outside school gates and drop-ins with members of the local community. Over 90 pupil’s voices were heard and over 600 comments from the wider community were received.

Several rounds of engagement were held to focus on developing the measures to be prioritised into quick wins, short-term, medium-term and long-term improvements for potential delivery, as funding becomes available.

Cllr Daren Veidman, Cabinet Member for Housing and Highways said:- "This approach is so benefical for the local community. School pupils and the wider school community who know their area best are eard and it is their suggestions we are putting in place. Because the the improvements are in the community, it benefits everyone. These streets aren’t just for the school community, local people are using these streets every day to go to work or the shops or walk the dog, and everyone will benefit from healthier, cleaner, greener and safer streets.”

Read more on the School Neighbourhood approach and which schools Sefton Council has worked with so far.