Clampdown on school parking
Tuesday 1st September 2009, 2:00PM BST.
Motorists who park indiscriminately during the school run in a Shropshire village face a clampdown by police after a wave of complaints.
Minsterley Parish Council says the problem of double parking and people blocking drives close to Minsterley Primary School, near Shrewsbury, was so bad that it was left with no choice but to seek help from the authorities.
Louise Walsgrove, clerk of the council, said that some residents have already got so fed up of the issue that they have resorted to placing traffic cones.
She has now written to Community Support Officer Angie Roberts, a member of the Local Policing Team for Shrewsbury Rural West, about the matter.
In the letter she praises the work of CSO Roberts and Local Policing Officer Jon Summerfield in supporting the village, and urges them to have a look at the problem.
She says: “The council has received a complaint about the parked cars outside Minsterley Primary School, especially at the end of the school day.
“The council has advised that cars should be parked at the parish hall car park, but this advice has consistently been ignored.”
The council is asking the Local Policing Team to speak with drivers as advice about the problem in the school’s newsletter has been to no avail.
Maria Hawkaluk, spokeswoman for West Mercia Police, said: “The parking problem will be monitored by the police team in a bid to bring about an improvement.”
Mrs Walsgrove said: “The council has always tried to persuade parents who pick up children at the end of the school day to park in the parish hall car park and just walk to the school rather than park along the main road and in front of the houses.
“We are getting complaints from residents in that area. CSO Angie Roberts patrols around there and knows the problem so she is helping to get the drivers to park their cars further down.”
By Russell Roberts
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So they are having a clamp down during the school holidays? hmmmmm? No doubt the Police will be declaring this initiative an overwhelming sucess.
Honestly *tut*
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Its no wonder children are getting obese these days with their parents pandering to them and parking as close as possible to the school.
Get them to walk to school where possible, I use to walk a 3 mile round trip whatevr the weather. Or, if that realy is not possible organise a school bus.
Anything but “lardy” parents dropping off their “lardy” children outside school. If they blocked my drive I would clamp them!
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This is a problem outside most school’s with cars parking on footpaths peoples drives double yellow lines. My partner is confined to a wheelchair and it is impossible to negotiate paths by schools because of LAZY parents driving to school maybe the government should bring out a school run tax.
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Well this is a one is’nt it . Public putting cones on the highway not allowed are the police going to take action? fat parents and kids are the minority parking outside the school most are not and the majority park with in the law as per the road markings plus home owners do not own the road outside there homes there drive way yes . Best answer for this is to close the school clearly muppets who bought houses by it did not know it was there when they bought there house.Finaly parish councillor wrote to the local cso should have wrote to santa would have got a better answer.
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Ape Man,
The reason that many people drive their kids to school is not because they are lazy – on the contrary, it’s because they are busy, and have to be at work very shortly after the time at which the children need to be at school. Many of Britain’s employers are unfortunately very inflexible when it comes to parental responsibilities.
Add to that the lack of suitable public transport, and you have the problem of the school run – solve either, or preferably both of the above problems, and the whole school run problem will go away.
This sort of police action, although perhaps necessary, is treating the symptoms rather than the cause.
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Well said above many drive to school as they have to be at work 30 odd minutes later or live to far from the school becouse they have closed other village schools , as they plan to do again. However i am afraid the blame does can not be put on the employer but in 2009 it can be put at the feet of the schools.
Schools should be open to take pupils from 7,30am that would reduce the volume of parking and arrivals and spread it out over 1 hour and 15 minutes all schools should have breakfast clubs etc but this is not the case all have to be there at 8,45 all have to return for 3,15 or what ever time the school day for the children ends .
The schools are inflexible every one else is in 2009 including employers to a degree. I some rimes wonder whether the powers that be at schools think everyone else is on benefits sat at home and have nothing else to do while the children are in school MODERNISE I SAY longer school days drop offs and pick ups and saturday mornings.
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Peter,
I think you should live in Sundorne Shrewsbury the majority of mums who use cars & park on the footpaths do not work and only live a couple of streets away so LAZY is the right word for them..
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I just don’t believe it!
We all know that you can’t stop on the yellow school zig-zag markings, yet I drove past a school yesterday where there is a yellow metal sign that says “Don’t park on the yellow school zig-zg lives” or words to that effect.
This is just pathetic, as if that is going to change behaviour?
Just what next? A sign in front of that saying “Please read the next sign”?
Honestly *tut*
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Just to stir the pot a little more, firstly these parents should consider themselves lucky they have a job in the first place; secondly tyhey chose to have the children and therefore should accept the consequences.
If they parked responsibly then there would not be a problem but they ‘have’ to park as close as possible. I personally have been greatly inconvenienced by parents parking at a number of schools in the area.
I am waiting to see what happens when the new madeley academy opens.
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Having read the whole story and the posted comments, albiet my initial comment was slightly biased but not unfounded. It is clear that some parents are selfish, there are facilities to park near this school without disrupting the people who live near the school. Nevertheless, they disregard this and subseqently break the law.They have now been warned, so I hope they are now fined and,or cautioned.
Oh yes! I hope they realise that they can walk from a car park with the legs given to them!!
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Fact is they are with in the law, if they are not fine them. However most are with in the law.As for the argument they chose to have the children that has to be the dumbest comment ever, and they should be lucky they have a job???????? so it is fine if they are on benefits is it????
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I seem to remember stories a few years back saying parents were allowed to park at Minsterley Parish Hall and then walk their kids the short distance to the school gates, to stop just this kind of thing happening and make things safer for everyone around the school itself.
Even the busiest parent who has to get to work can surely spare five minutes to park a few hundred yards away and walk their kids in? My mum and dad both worked full time and, while my primary school was four or five miles from home so they would drive me in on the way, always parked safely, well away from the school gates and walked me the last few hundred metres.
It’s a problem all over the country though, not just in one little village in Shropshire.
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in corndon crescent we have cars &4x4s parking on pavements on both sides of the road,no one can get past them on the footpaths with wheel chairs or buggies even the post man as to go on the road to get past.they even park on a raised area on a junction put there for child safty ,the local councilors & police dont seem bothered ,maybe a child getting knocked over will get somthing done.
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You’ve got no chance of tickets being issued as the police use the pavements to park on themselves. Okay if they’re attending a true life and death situation but turning up to investigate a bottle of stolen milk doesn’t quite reach the standard.
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If parents and kids justifiably object to being called ‘lardy’, ‘lazy’ and ‘selfish’ by Woody, you might be interested to see that this is a consistent refrain from him and that he has a major blind spot, which he seems incapable of acknowledging ( see thread http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/07/11/infant-pupils-obesity-shock/).
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