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Graham, Tom and Ian
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Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
What were the local issues four decades ago?
Cheadle and Gatley Lib Dems are moving
Schools Hill – my meeting at Lady Barn House School
by Lib Dem team on 29 January, 2010
On Wednesday morning I met with Mrs Yule, the Headteacher at Lady Barn House School on School’s Hill, Cheadle. This followed concern from local residents about traffic and parking around the school at dropping off and picking up times.
Hopefully I’ll find the time to write more detail about what the school has been doing, but for now I’ll give the summary.
The school does make efforts to minimise the problems. In the morning children are dropped off in the car par, in the afternoon picking up is obviously trickier as the kids can’t always be there at just the right time.
Exiting the school, there are “no right turn” signs, though some parents ignore them.
The school encourages parents to be responsible when parking and driving, and are very happy for the police to hand out tickets to those breaking the law. They regularly send out letters to parents reminding them of the need to be responsible.
Of course, most people who live near a school recognise that traffic increases for short periods in the mornings and afternoons – it’s a problem every school in the country has.
And, as Inspector Gilbertson told us at the Area Committee meeting, when you have parents parking illegally and willingly accepting the fine, with no intention of changing their behaviour, there’s little police or the school can do.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t improve the situation in this case. I was keen to look at ways the Council could help the school to stop traffic needing to come onto Schools Hill at all.
We’re going to explore whether there’s a safe and affordable way to have parents parking off Schools Hill (perhaps Cheadle Baths or the Sainsburys/John Lewis car park) and be bussed or walked to school from there.
For both the school and the Council there are issues and challenges to be overcome; but we’re talking about it, and that’s got to be a positive start.
8 Comments
Iain, in my book any private / fee paying school should be laying on a school bus anyway, especially at Lady Barn as most children come from out of area and this in itself exacerbates the issue. If the parents are willing to not only accept but pay the fine, then the police should be up there every day, that’s nice little income stream!
🙂
Alan
I do hope that no more traffic is allowed onto Shiers Drive and park on the road or carpark there, as there is already problems throughout the day with cars parking on the footpaths and school buses dropping off children at the baths, Bullocks run buses there every morning, sometimes three at a time, sometimes leaving the engines running for anything up to 30 minutes at a time, which I have complained about to Bullocks many times, but they don’t take much notice.
Alan – a school bus is an option. The school did pursue it a couple of years ago, but not enough parents were willing to use it (the downside of being a primary school with some very young children).
Bob – using Shiers Drive is certainly an option, though it would be at the start and end of the school day only. One way or another, the traffic is going to go somewhere, so (as with all schools) it’s down to finding the least bad option for dealing with traffic, I suspect.
It is appalling that the local police inspector appears to be suggesting that the law can be flouted, with impunity, by those wealthy enough to just keep paying fines. It is one thing being a wealthy inconsiderate so-and-so. It is another having the police connive with you.
John – I believe Inspector Gilbertson was just stating a fact. He wasn’t agreeing with the drivers or using it as an excuse not to police.
He’s right – if there’s a maximum penalty for a offence and someone’s happy to pay that penalty, there’s not a lot more the police can do.
The Exit from Lady Barn House School has 2 traffic lanes: one for turning left and one for turning right.
If there are signs in the school grounds not to turn right then surely the right lane should not be open (ie close the gate here) at school arrival and departure times.
This comment could be passed back to the head teacher.
Perhaops if they prosecuted the offenders every single day for a while, then they might see the police are serious in dealing with the situation. And, yes, I know the cops have better things to do – but that’s what these inconsiderate so-and-so’s rely on to get away with breaking the law. I bet if was an issue in the leafy roads on which they live, they’s be banging the drum to a different tune.
[…] Back in January I reported on a meeting I’d had with Mrs Yule, Headmistress at Lady Barn House School in Cheadle. […]