Tensions rising over ‘horrendous’ school parking
PARENTS AND RESIDENTS GET ‘AGGRESSIVE’ OVER SPACES
TENSION between parents and residents near two schools is getting “horrendous” as school drop-offs and pickups get “aggressive”.
The roads around Fernwood Primary School on Arleston Drive and the Fernwood secondary school on Goodwood Road, Wollaton, are filling up with parents’ cars every day, frustrating the site’s neighbours.
Parking permits have been introduced to help alleviate the problems, but people in the area don’t think the measures go far enough.
Aoife Conroy, 50, drops and picks up her son, Alfie, 10, at school everyday by bike or on foot.
She said: “I feel unsafe and wouldn’t let him go to school on his own.
“You have to be very careful as drivers get aggressive.
“They drive past us cycling when they shouldn’t. They don’t give you enough room.
“People park on the kerb so you can’t walk.
“There is just not enough space for all the cars.”
Nayala Rehmat, 43, who lives on Renfrew Drive, said the situation was “horrendous”.
She said: “I’ve lived here for over 14 years and it just seems to be getting worse.
“It is horrendous and it’s unfair. “I want my children to be able to walk safely.”
Parking permits were introduced on Renfrew Drive to combat the situation.
She added: “People still park – the council needs to enforce it properly.
“They’re not consistent and it’s not working.
“It causes a lot of tension between residents and parents. “Everybody has to work together.” Faye Usman, 49, a parent and resident, thinks a child could be injured if nothing is done to solve the problem.
She said: “The road is absolutely full of cars. It creates problems for pedestrians.
“People are just desperate to park up and they can nearly hit you.
“Parents are coming with babies in prams and there isn’t room on the pavement.
“A child is going to be hurt – I’ve been nearly hit before.”
Ms Usman thinks the additional parking permits have only made the problems around the school worse.
She added: “It’s created a worse problem.
“Parents exploit the loophole with the scheme which allows them up to 10 minutes to park up.
“It is a lot more dangerous around the school.
“Something needs to be done as the issue has been going on for years.
“We want double lines – it is just ridiculous.”
Councillor Steve Battlemuch, Labour Nottingham City Council member for Wollaton West, explained that trafficcalming measures had been put in place to help resolve the issue.
He said; “It is an incredibly busy road when it comes to school time.
“Over the years we’ve improved the layout – with traffic-calming measures and a residents’ parking scheme. “The school is doing some good work by trying to educate children and pass that information on to their parents.
“We continue to try make it as safe as possible and to promote good behaviour around the school.
“Sometimes it causes more tension than it resolves.”
You have to be careful as the drivers get aggressive. They don’t give you enough room
Aoife Conroy