Not specifically relating to
White lines, but in response to the oft raised subject of the potential for
Yellow lines near St Mark’s school.
Parking outside school is a
vexed subject which is regularly on the agenda at Governor’s meetings. Over the
years a variety of “solutions” have been suggested by residents, including
parking restrictions, speed limits, one way traffic flow down Oxenholme Lane
and up Helm Lane. In that time we have discussed these suggestions with the
Police and the Local authorities. From the feedback that we have had, it is
extremely unlikely that any form of Yellow line parking restriction would be
considered in a village like Natland, additionally the Police would be very
unlikely to devote any resources to enforcement. Of course those who did obey
any restrictions would only park as near as possible to school and merely move
the problem elsewhere in the village.
Suggestions as to the creation
of a Village Car park have also been made periodically. The difficulty here is
identifying a suitable piece of available land and of course you still have to
get people to use it.
We are all aware of the real
problem, which is the attitude of some individuals who will not park with
consideration as they are “only going to be there for 10 minutes”. As a
resident of Oxenholme Lane I know very well the nuisance occasioned by poor
parking. The Governors write to the parents at least once a term asking them to
park with courtesy and consideration for residents. We encourage the use of the
bus service as much as possible and certainly many children now use it. We
extended the school car park in order to remove on average an extra 8 staff
cars from parking on the road.
St Mark’s School is successful
and very popular, something which I think most villagers would think is a good
thing. The downside of popularity of course is that we get a traffic surge
twice a day. We are proud to have a successful and thriving school in the
village and we have many strong links within the community which we are developing
all the time. We would be delighted to work with the Community to improve
things further.
Mike Duff
Chair of Governors, St Mark’s
School.
I am one of those most affected by the car parking outside St Marks School. I live immediately opposite the school. I agree with Mike Duff that having a vibrant primary school in the village is a real plus and congestion twice a day is an inevitable consequence. I can and do live with that; it is of short duration and most parents are sensible. This sort of congestion happens at most schools.
What causes problems is inconsiderate parking (ie double parking, obstruction of driveways, parking for longer than is necessary and parking on narrow parts of the road) and that is a matter which is best addressed through regular contact between the school and parents and a bit of policing by the school.
As regards the white lines around the green, they extend further then they need to and remove some perfectly good parking space, thereby making matters worse.
Yvonne Rowan Robinson
I am one of those most affected by the car parking outside St Marks School. I live immediately opposite the school. I agree with Mike Duff that having a vibrant primary school in the village is a real plus and congestion twice a day is an inevitable consequence. I can and do live with that; it is of short duration and most parents are sensible. This sort of congestion happens at most schools.
What causes problems is inconsiderate parking (ie double parking, obstruction of driveways, parking for longer than is necessary and parking on narrow parts of the road) and that is a matter which is best addressed through regular contact between the school and parents and a bit of policing by the school.
As regards the white lines around the green, they extend further then they need to and remove some perfectly good parking space, thereby making matters worse.
Yvonne Rowan Robinson