Residents’ calls for additional onsite parking at Park Primary school have been rejected by Cambridgeshire County Council. The decision follows a site visit by the Council’s Road Safety Manager and their Assistant Director of Transport Strategy and Network Management.
Residents have been told “there is no further recourse within the planning framework to revisit the original decisions regarding the design and layout of the school site.”
Frank Jordan, Executive Director of Place and Sustainability, added that the road may become congested at times – something that is “common in locations of this nature” – but it is “not considered necessary to make any changes to the highway.”
He says the school’s travel plan, which encourages sustainable travel options, is the most effective way of tackling the problems, and that this approach “best aligns with our sustainable travel ambition.”
This view has been endorsed by Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, Leader of the Council, who has told residents she is “not willing to suggest that the County Council investigate a car park on this site.”
She said: “There are many many primary schools in Cambridgeshire which have issues with parking, and if we were to start improving car access for schools it would cost a vast amount and go against our policies of trying to encourage walking and cycling to school.”
An “exceptional” site
Alan Jones has responded to the Council on behalf of the campaign group pressing for action. He explained that Park Primary school has a catchment where active travel is already very popular, but the safety of the many pedestrians and cyclists who use Narrow Close and Narrow Lane has been compromised by the number of vehicles manoeuvring in the street at school drop-off times.
“The site really is exceptional because of the [school’s] location on a main road and the geography of the sustainable transport routes that converge into Narrow Close”, he said.
“The school was planned to accommodate motor vehicle drop-off for 120+ vehicles entirely on-site, so we are not asking for a change of policy, just an implementation of what was promised.”
He estimates that up to 60 vehicles currently have no choice but to park on residential streets near the school, saying “those who drop off by car that I have spoken to are doing so out of necessity because they have no other viable option…
“20 vehicles (and up to 30 in the winter) are reversing into the flow of vulnerable road users [in Narrow Close]” he said, “at a time when all may be distracted, with car doors opening on both sides or children running across the road to their friends…”
Flat out rejection
The Council sees the school’s travel plan, which promotes and encourages sustainable travel, as the most effective route for addressing the problems. But Cllr Ros Hathorn has been putting pressure on officers to take further action.
She is frustrated at their refusal to introduce signage that restricts access to Narrow Close to pedestrians and cyclists during school drop off and pick-up times.
“This is a solution that would be brilliant for Narrow Close and I have asked for [it] until I am blue in the face, and received flat out rejection at every turn”, she said. “Please can we understand why Narrow Close is not able to have that signage and such a scheme in Norfolk Street [in Cambridge] is?
Her comments have now been taken on board by Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, who has asked for more information about the signage issues, saying “this seems a good option”.
READ ALSO: Pressure grows to resolve Park Primary traffic issues and Residents step up Park Primary parking campaign
The campaign group leading on the Park Primary parking issues are Alan Jones, Hilary Knightley, Paula Potter, Norman Gentry and Edd Stonham.
To read more about the Park Primary parking campaign, see their website at parkparking.exospan.com
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