Residents blocked in by parents’ illegal parking near Coventry school as council urged to take action
Some residents are not happy
Residents’ complaints of inconsiderate and illegal parking by parents taking their children to and from a local school are to be investigated further by Coventry City Council.
A petition of 145 signatures has called for action to tackle parking and speeding problems in Abercorn Road, Chapelfields.
People living in the street say parents visiting All Souls’ Catholic Primary School are blocking them in by parking in front of driveways.
The complaints were discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet Member for City Services in April, where officers said surveys showed there were no speeding problems and no collisions resulting in personal injury.
The council did acknowledge the issues of poor parking and agreed to paint ‘School Keep Clear’ markings to stop people leaving cars near the school entrance where they could pose a danger to pupils entering and leaving the site.
But campaigners say more needs to be done and the authority is now being asked to take another look at the issue.
Labour councillor Jayne Innes, who backed the petition and was re-elected in the Whoberley ward in the May local elections, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the petition is to be discussed again at a future Cabinet member meeting to see what else can be done.
Cllr Innes said: “We are saying that refreshing the road markings is not enough in itself and we want more than that.
“We want to work with highways officers to boost road safety because the school’s on a very sharp bend where there is reduced visibility. So if we can do something more, whether it be mirrors or better signage to improve that, I think that will make a big difference.
“We’re hoping that the council will do more to improve that area and make it safer, not just for children and families, which is obviously really key, but also for residents because there are parents who are not parking as considerately as they might do.
“We’ve had cases of residents being kind of boxed in and unable to get to work on time because parents have parked across their driveway.”
She told parents that free parking is available at a nearby church and urged them to take up the offer.
Cllr Innes also warned that traffic wardens are patrolling the area to check for illegal parking across dropped kerbs.
She explained: “It’s a tight road for parking at the best of times as, like so many roads elsewhere, it was built before people had lots of cars. There’s now dropped kerbs so people can park in their front gardens, which means that there isn’t a space for parking on the street itself. And particularly at school drop-off and collection times, parking becomes quite difficult.
“Parking over somebody’s dropped kerb is illegal and if you box someone in and make them late for work, that’s just not being a good neighbour.
“Our parking enforcement officers are keeping a tight watch on that area as well to encourage parents to do the right thing by not parking in the wrong place. There will be some people who will be ticketed.
“So we need to encourage people not to do that, but instead to take advantage of car parking that’s being provided by All Souls’ Church, which is just around the corner.
“The church actually allow parents to park there free of charge as they deliver their children to school and then collect them at the end of the day. I’d really like to encourage parents to take them up on that kind offer.
“That’s being such good neighbours and if we can encourage parents to take advantage of that, it would really make such a big difference.”