Solving the school gate chaos

‘‘Common sense, it seems, gets lost around the school gate,’’ Liddall said.

‘‘Every year, it’s a little bit worse – the whole cotton-wool, helicopter parents where they think something might happen on the way to school.’’

Hilleke Townsend, the city council’s sustainable transport co-ordinator, said the school travel plan would help the public better understand student travel options, improve safety and educate parents on ways to alleviate pressure on roads.

‘‘When you have hundreds of children, teenagers and their parents or wha¯ nau all trying to leave a school within a 10-minute window at the end of the school day, that does cause a bit of congestion, which no school is immune from.’’

The plan could introduce ‘‘Park and Stride’’ drop-off areas – spots near schools that provide ‘‘ample’’ parking, far enough from the school gate to reduce the ‘‘chaos’’.

But councillor Iona Pannett said finding the space in a compact city like Wellington would be difficult.

Not allowing children to make their own way to school was ‘‘wrapping our kids up in cotton wool’’, she added. ‘‘It’s about a culture change.’’

Pannett admitted that existing infrastructure was putting schools and parents off embracing the motorless commute. She wanted speed limits lowered to 30kmh.

A Karori Normal School parent, who did not want to be named, said there was a ‘‘mum’s mafia’’ that frowned upon other mothers who allowed children younger than 10 to make their own way to school.

‘‘It’s not the done thing.’’ This was despite the school encouraging ‘‘walking school buses’’, providing space to keep scooters and bikes, and adopting a ‘‘Kiss and Drop’’ programme to help with the constant traffic flow as parents dropped their children off at the gate, she said.

‘‘It stops parents from taking up parks, double-parking everywhere or parking illegally. It works really well there.’’

Townsend said most children, when asked, were really keen to walk, scoot or bike to school independently.

‘‘They can help give their parents confidence in their abilities by obeying road rules. We encourage children to find a friend to walk with, or a group of other children.’’

The council’s latest residents survey showed 53 per cent of children aged under 13 years walked to and from school every day – up from 26 per cent in 2013.

‘‘Common sense, it seems, gets lost around the school gate.’’ South Wellington Intermediate School principal Traci Liddall