Yahoo News Plea for 'tolerance for 15 minutes' as Whitley Bay locals take on school run parents' parking
Homeowners in Whitley Bay have called for more controls on street parking during the school run, after reporting aggression, poor driving, and obstructed driveways - but not everyone agrees with them in the ChronicleLive's comments section, with some calling for "tolerance" for parents during their busy mornings and afternoons.
Residents of Grindon Close, Whitley Bay, say they're having issues with drivers at the nearby Star of The Sea Roman Catholic Primary School. They claim that despite previous council and police efforts to improve the situation, little has changed and they continue to face abuse from motorists.
One local, John Francis, described an encounter: “There was one person and he was on someone's drive with the engine running. I asked him to move, and he said he wasn’t parked, but very aggressively, and as he pulled away he clipped a resident's car, which was reported to the police. It gets very congested and from what we have seen of them, they aren’t very good at driving their vehicles, my car got clipped last week.”
Another said they had once been boxed into their drive, had to run to her doctors' so as not to miss a medical appointment.
Commenter Lourib152 calls for people to accept that the school run is just unavoidably busy: “It's not lazy parents, why can locals not accept people are just trying to get the kids to school? So please be tolerant for maybe 15 mins morning and the same at teatime, come on get a life. I live opposite a school, I drive, but put up with parents dropping their kids off and remember most of them have to dash off to work.”
Traffic is the price you pay for nearby amenities, says user Thingswillonlygetbetter: “We all go to schools and pay for schools from our taxes. They are community facilities and have to be located somewhere. I wonder if these objectors ever drive to shops, hospitals, doctors, post offices, parks etc that arent located in their own street?”
But Jt1216 replied that it isn't the same thing: "The places you've listed tend to have car parking facilities that don't massively inconvenience local residents! Schools built in residential areas tend not to offer car parking for parents, only staff. These 'objectors' are complaining about being blocked in or out of their own homes, having their cars damaged and suffering verbal abuse or being threatened. Do you seriously think this is reasonable behaviour from the school run drivers? Try living next to a school!”
Tiabell understands both sides: “I live next to a school and accept that traffic is always going to be there during school run times. However my daughter attends a different school and it’s in a cul-de-sac, and the parents parking and stupidity does leave a lot to be desired. I think some of the parents drive cars to large for them to manoeuvre.”
No sympathy for parents from commenter D3d3de: “I'm afraid every single school is like this, parents are in to much of a rush and don't give it a 2nd thought about the safety of the kids, and the 'me me me' culture who park anywhere. 'WELL I WILL ONLY BE 5 MINUTES'.”
Livinhope thinks that there are some lessons to be learned from the past: “When Star of the Sea was built (I was in its first intake!) it replaced St Edwards at the bottom of Roxburgh terrace. As Star of the Sea was built on the outskirts of Whitley Bay it was difficult to access for children in all parts of Whitley, car ownership was a lot less."
"To solve these problems the church part funded coaches to bus pupils in. There were 2 routes, one started at St Edwards Church Hall and had stops in W/B and Hillheads, the other started at the Golf club and served Brierdene area. The system worked very well, perhaps the past could be revisited.”
A North Tyneside Council spokesperson previously told ChronicleLive: “We are aware of parking issues on Grindon Close and other streets near the school site and we’ve been working with the residents to address these through a range of measures. These include bollards, enforcement patrols, ‘school keep clear’ markings and a new pedestrian crossing on Seatonville Road to encourage active travel.
“Despite the work we have done so far, including a significant amount of work with the local schools to promote active travel, we are considering other steps we might take to alleviate the problem.
“We urge people to be courteous and respectful of residents when picking up and dropping off, and to seriously consider the park and ride options available, or walking, wheeling, or cycling, using some of the active travel routes which offer safe access to and from the school.”
The council also stated that if a driveway is obstructed, residents can make a specific request for enforcement action via the council’s website, while footway obstructions should be reported to the police through the non-emergency 111 line.
How would you solve traffic problems near schools? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.
