Parents face £130 fine for using car to drop pupils at school gate
‘It won’t reduce the problem’
PARENTS dropping off their children by car at school gates are being hit with fines of up to £130.
A number of local authorities have set up temporary ‘pedestrian zones’ outside popular schools to prevent anybody stopping outside.
In some cases, automatic number plate recognition cameras have been installed to catch vehicles and issue fines.
The roads are closed to non-residential traffic during pick-up and drop-off times, meaning only people living on the roads with a special permit can enter.
It is hoped families will stop using their cars and instead walk or cycle with their children to school.
If the bans are successful in reducing congestion, more local authorities could adopt similar measures.
But angry parents say it has made their school run more dangerous and timeconsuming, and congestion has only been shifted on to neighbouring streets.
In one example, Croydon Council in south London has implemented a six- month trial of the ban outside three primary schools.
They said it was in response to complaints about congestion around Woodcote School in Coulsdon, Heavers Farm School and St Chads RC School in nearby Selhurst.
But Georgiee Rodriques, 30, a marketing manager who has two children at Woodcote – Savanna, five, and Tallie, two – said she has to drive because walking would mean a two-hour round trip.
She said: ‘This will make the school run really difficult. We’re going to have to park and then cross a busy road, and it’s quite dangerous. I’m really annoyed. There are lots of parents, it’s a big school, and this is just going to cause problems on other roads.’
Sadia Mohiud-din, 41, a GP living near the school, said she feared the ban would cause more parents to park in her road. She said: won’tjust be reduce ‘Blocking dispersed.’the problem,off the roadsit will Croydon number Council plate will recognitionuse temporary cameras to see if vehicles passing through have permission.
It is understood the council has warned in a letter that those violating the parking ban will face a fine of £130 which will be reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days of the date on the notice.
James Collins, a Woodcote School governor, admitted the fines would be ‘unpopular’ but said they were necessary to stop ‘an accident happening with a child’. In another example, Soli- hull Council in the West Midlands has also implemented a similar 18-month trial outside three schools – Haslucks Green Junior School, Marston Green Infant Academy and Oak Cottage Primary School. New signs will be put up in the roads and will be regulated by traffic officers, with offenders being slapped with a £100 fine.
Alyson Jones, a parent, said: ‘I don’t park irresponsibly and like most parents, I don’t block driveways ... there are a small minority that do that.
‘The rest of us are having to pay the price for that small minority and it is actually putting our children’s safety at risk.’
Solihull Council is implementing the scheme via a Traffic Regulation Order in the affected roads. A TRO allows a local authority to restrict traffic or parking, and is commonly used to stop lorries driving down residential streets.
Councillor Ted Richards, Solihull’s cabinet member for transport and highways, said: ‘We know that most people do drive responsibly, but it can often be chaotic outside schools at dropoff and pick-up times.
‘The aim ... is to create a safer and more pleasant environment for everyone around schools.’
Croydon councillor Stuart King said: ‘These roads are a school run traffic headache for everyone, so this trial is about improving child safety and boosting walking and the environment.
‘By getting hundreds of individual parents to park legally outside these pedestrian zones or – even better – at home, we hope this will make a big difference.’