Parents angry and worried over planned parking changes at Horsham school
Parents at a Horsham primary school are angry and worried for the safety of their children because of planned parking changes.
Horsham District Council has informed St Mary’s School in Normandy, Horsham, that it is withdrawing free parking permits for parents dropping off and collecting their children from January 1.
Headteacher Emma McLaughlin said: “We are disappointed that this decision was taken by the council without a consultation involving the school.”
She said parents were worried about getting their children to and from school safely – with the additional possibility of getting a parking fine.
"We are a church school serving the parish of Horsham, without a fixed catchment area. We therefore take pupils from all over the parish, some of whom have no option other than driving.
“There is a very strong national agenda from the Department for Education to improve school attendance and punctuality. The school is required to do all it can to ensure parents can get their children to school every day, on time. The council's decision goes against this effort.
“Removing free parking near the school will likely push traffic issues into local residential roads where parking is not restricted, damaging neighbourhood relationships and causing the council further issues elsewhere.
“We are informed that this decision has been taken in part due to the misuse of parking permits by some parents. This matter has not been raised with the school so that it can be addressed or resolved in other ways.
“We are concerned about creating a more dangerous situation for pedestrians, increasing the likelihood of cars 'hovering' and causing congestion, and raising pollution with engines left running if people are unable to park safely.
“No alternative options have been explored, or other solutions been offered. We do, however, agree that parking around the school is an issue that needs addressing and would welcome a collaboration with the council to find a sensible solution.”
She said more needed to be done to stop anti social behaviour in areas around the school as it prevented many parents from allowing their children to walk or cycle to school on their own.
A Horsham District Council spokesperson said: "We are currently in correspondence with St Mary’s School in Horsham regarding the use of parking permits in order to explore options to enable parents to park safely around the school at drop-off and pick-up times. "We do understand their concerns. Importantly, on-street parking restrictions near the school do not start until after school drop-off time, meaning parents are able to park for up to 15 minutes in designated areas without payment at this time.
"In relation to Pay and Display bays, which are the responsibility of West Sussex County Council, there is a policy exemption for parents to park for up to 15 minutes on street whilst taking their children to school and payment is not required. So at school pick-up times, parents can benefit from this exemption and do not have to pay. "As long as parents park legally and without obstructing driveways, no significant issues should arise."