‘Selfish and inconsiderate’ motorists who park on double yellow lines and across driveways near a Salford primary school have forced council bosses to step up parking restrictions nearby. And with the problem widespread across the city, four mobile cameras are set to be deployed around local schools to enforce no waiting regulations which are flouted on a daily basis.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service visited the roads outside Cadishead Primary School at around 3pm this week and saw drivers picking up children parked on existing double yellow lines at the junction of Allotment Road, Moss Side Road and Prospect Road. Residents in the area say they are ‘fed up’ with people picking their children up from school, flouting existing ‘no waiting’ restrictions and obstructing driveways.
Sue Sinnott, 69, said: “It’s ridiculous. There are people coming here and parking from 2.15pm onwards just so they can get a convenient space near the school. Some of them live within easy walking distance of here. It's madness.
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“You can see the line of cars stretching all the way down Moss Side road, some of them parking across people’s driveways.” But she added the extra restrictions would also cause a headache for local residents, some of whom have two or three cars per household and already struggle for spaces to park.
And she added: “But it’s no good painting yellow lines around the junctions and then failing to enforce the regulations."
Alan Richardson, 82, agreed, saying: “There are times when I just can’t get off my drive, there are that many cars around. It’s prompted me to have a drive made at the front of my house, costing £600.”
He said that other residents in Moss Side Road had converted their front gardens into driveways so they could park.
David and Valerie Greenhalgh live opposite the school. Valerie said: “It’s crazy how some people park. They’re parking on yellow lines now, so I don’t see that painting more is going to make much difference, if the restrictions are not going to be enforced."
Additional double yellow lines are now also to be painted on other junctions of the narrow roads around the school. This follows a briefing by Salford City Council’s lead member for planning and sustainable development Coun Mike McCusker.
Complaints had been made about ‘visibility issues’ on Moss Side Road at the junction of Poplar Grove and Kenmore Grove, prompting the introduction of parking bans as well as ‘No Stopping’ on School Keep Clear road markings on Moss Side Road.
Double yellow lines extending five metres each way at the junction of Kenmore Grove and Moss Side Road and Poplar Gove and Moss Side Road are soon to appear, preventing drivers from parking. Initial proposals were for the yellow lines to stretch 10 metres each way, but these were scaled down by the council following objections from residents.
Coun McCusker acknowledged that enforcement of parking restrictions around double yellow lines was an 'issue'. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "But without double yellow lines and zig-zags outside schools, we can't enforce anything.
"We are introducing the cameras on a trial basis and we are currently patrolling two schools where there is a problem. But it takes a while for it [the enforcement action] to have an impact. The hope is that by imposing parking fines on motorists who break the restrictions it will change their behaviour and that word spreads around to other parents.
"This is very much a trial. But I get regular reports of accidents in my role and there a graph that shows that over a rolling 10-year period there has been a reduction of serious injuries and deaths, so it's going in the right direction.
"Parking badly near schools can have tragic consequences, even with speeds restricted to 20mph."
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