Parent's parking fury at St Mark's Primary

Nov 19 2009 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

FRESH action is being taken by pupils and parents at St Mark’s Primary, Hamilton, as frustration grows over the parking “chaos” at the school.

At a parents’ evening on Tuesday, concerned pupils at the Sherry Drive school handed out leaflets warning parents of the dangers of parking in the narrow street and in nearby Etive Avenue.

And in an innovative new step, pupils also intend to produce a video to highlight road safety measures to distribute at a later date.

In a number of letters to the Advertiser in recent weeks, parents and road users slammed South Lanarkshire Council’s lack of safe “drop-off” points for children at the school.

Heavy traffic in the street - which has a number of traffic-calming measures - has prompted safety fears from parents, with one letter describing the current system as “chaos”.

Stuart Munro (36), chairman of the school’s parent council, explained that the children’s safety on the road has been a major talking point in the last two years, but the growing number of pupils has made matters all the more urgent.

He said: “We recognise that parents have a part to play in this, and we have taken steps to highlight the risks that inconsiderate driving and parking create.

“However, cars have to stop somewhere, and the location of the school gate, combined with the traffic control chicanes on Sherry Drive, means that most park around the Tiree Grange area.

“Cars are routinely parked across pavements and driveways, or on grass verges. This means that parents with pushchairs have to walk on the roadway, and children walking to school have to dodge between parked and moving cars.”

Mr Munro claimed that parents had proposed several alternatives to the council, but so far nothing has been done. He added: “We know that money is tight. However, there is a little used turning circle at the top of Sherry Drive, which could be used as a drop-off point. If the local authority installed a road crossing and a new gate into the school grounds, at relatively little cost, the traffic problem would be solved at a stroke.

“As parents, our main priority is the safety of our children. There have already been near misses. We are not prepared to sit and wait while the council's failure to act puts the lives of our children at risk.”

Acting principal teacher at St Mark’s Primary, Emma Carlin, also expressed concern about the problem. She said: “As the school continues to grow so does the uneasiness about the congestion outside the school gate. The Junior Road Safety Officers from Primary 6, Paula Queen and Joshua Vettese, are distributing leaflets this week at parents' nights to encourage parents to park safely and ensure the safety of all of our children.”

Head teacher Caroline Campbell added: “The Junior Road Safety Officers are an integral part of our approach to keeping our children safe. I am confident that working in partnership, the parent council, the local authority, the Roads Department and the police will make a real difference to ensuring the safety of our children.”

A spokesman for the council said: “The council through its road safety team have been promoting the safe parking message in and around the school for a while. Pupils and the parent council are inviting everyone to be responsible when driving and parking near the school. The key message is park safe, keep children safe.”