Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Parking Enforcement Vehicle for road safety or just a cash cow?
We had a reason to pick up our granddaughter from Ysgol G.G. Aberdar Cwmdare the entrance to the school is on Laburnum Drive, Cwmdare.
On the 28 of February when parked on Laburnum Drive waiting for our granddaughter the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Parking Enforcement Vehicle traversed Laburnum Drive four times in less than 20 minutes when we were waiting, safety for children is the primary concern so what does the school say.
“The school accepts that parking near the school is not easy. The residential streets outside the school are used by service buses as well as other traffic into and out of the surrounding area.”
“It is important that the school is a considerate neighbour to local residents. Where parents/carers are unable to access/stop on the school site, they are asked not to park immediately outside the school, but to drop the children off further away, in a location where it is safe to do so, and allow them to walk the remaining distance.”
Therefore the school excepts there is problems for parents/carers and grandparents dropping children off whether it is Laburnum Drive or further and this is before the council has increased capacity at the school.
The council said the Parking Enforcement Vehicle will "be a visible presence in the county, targeting areas where poor parking is a known problem during school drop-off and pick-up periods.”
It is all well and good the school and the council saying where poor parking is a known problem during school drop-off and pick-up periods as on Laburnum Drive and other areas, but they have done nothing to improve the situation only add to the problem in Cwmdare by extending the school with no provision made within the new building works for some sort of drop-off area for cars.
So who has created the problem on Laburnum Drive? The council has by placing the school there in the first place and increasing the problem by extending the Cwmdare School. So why blame and punish the parents when there is no other place to park their cars?
A council statement “The council takes all issues relating to road safety very seriously, and our Road Safety Team works closely with schools and the wider community about staying safe as motorists and pedestrians. This work goes on all-year-round, while officers support additional Road Safety Week activities each November.”
If the council is doing what it says, why is there a major problem on Laburnum Drive and Park Lane and I expect in many schools throughout RCT? There is little point in having a roving camera van as the council says for safety, but acting as a cash cow of cash strapped parents the council should solve the problem not add to it. By making Parents Park in other streets/roads the parking just moves along and becomes someone else’s problem but not the solution.
Park lane this is not the full extent of double parking, waiting to go into school residents doesn't blame the school, but who decided that was the best place for a school that requires more staff than a conventional school and more school transport with no parking facilities provided.
