Anger at school parking

Residents claim parents collecting their children from school are bringing daily traffic chaos to their once quiet community.
Traffic parked on Sandy Lane, Marton, at school pick-up timeTraffic parked on Sandy Lane, Marton, at school pick-up time
Traffic parked on Sandy Lane, Marton, at school pick-up time

People living on Sandy Lane and School Road in Marton say fences have been damaged and grass verges have been trampled due to parents parking on the roadside while they drop off and pick up their offspring from St Nicholas Primary School.

One elderly couple said an ambulance was even unable to reach their property on School Road on one occasion.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Now residents are calling on parents to make more use of official car parks provided by the school.

They say the problem has got worse since St Nicholas's expanded from one form entry to two forms eight years ago, meaning pupil numbers have swelled to 400.

Harry Howe, of Sandy Lane, said; "Sandy Lane was originally built as a cart track and can't cope with this amount of traffic.

"Also it is unadopted, so we have to pay for any resurfacing which last time cost £12,000 and the surface is deteriorating again due to the amount of traffic.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Parents park on both sides of the road and it makes it really difficult for residents trying to get to their homes, or get out onto School Road. It is dangerous.

"Also litter is left behind and we've suffered damage to fences and grass verges."

Another resident Margaret Taylor said: "They block access to our property all the time. It is horrendous.

"One time an ambulance was trying to bring my husband back from the hospital, and they had to double park as it was the only way to get near the house."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Anne Brockbank, of Worthington Road, added: "The parking on both sides is really dangerous and you can't get out onto School Road."

A spokesperson for St Nicholas School said roads around many schools were busy when parents were picking up or dropping off children.

She said: "We regularly put notices in our news letter to parents asking them to be considerate to local residents, and when we have inductions for new parents we remind them of our parking facilities.

"Residents do call us about the issue and we ask them to contact the council or the police if they see something illegal, and the council do regularly send their traffic enforcement officers down."

She added that parking for parents was available at Squires Gate FC on School Road, and at Common Edge Road playing fields.

Related topics: