Safety scheme launched at 'ticking time bomb' Tipton primary school
A campaign has been launched to put in safety measures outside a primary school, which has been labelled an 'accident waiting to happen' by a ward councillor.
Parking is such an issue at Glebefields Primary in Tipton, that 'it is a wonder no-one has been hurt', says Princes End Councillor Philip Garrett.
He has campaigned with the school and parents to get Sandwell Council to install double yellow lines and a small car park to ease the problem on Sandgate Road. The measures were agreed by the authority in the summer but work has not yet started.
Councillor Garrett said: "Everybody knows how bad the parking is down Sandgate Road. How a kid hasn't got hurt down there I don't know. It is a ticking time bomb and an accident waiting to happen.
"Parents, the school and myself set up a petition calling for the measures, which reached more than 100 signatures.
"Sandwell Council's highways department came down and agreed to the measures, but no work has started yet."
Councillor Garrett and parents say the road becomes a danger to children during busy periods and residents living close by say their lives are being affected because vehicles block off their drives.
Some measures are already in place to prevent parking near to the school.
A sign reading 'Don't park here' has been hung outside the school gates, while a small section of Sandgate Road has double yellow lines to prevent people from parking on the pavement.
The proposed measures would see double yellow lines extended further down the street, while a car park would be built on vacant land located off Sandgate Road.
"The road becomes like a choke point when it gets busy. It becomes funnelled and the footpaths get smaller when cars park on the pavements," said Councillor Garrett.
"It can be absolutely treacherous at this time of year, and an imminent danger to children."
Parents described the worst time was at the end of the school day when both the nursery and primary school finish at the same time.
James Marsh, a 36-year-old father from Tipton, said: "It is extremely dangerous on the road during busy periods, There has been two or three near misses with children here.
"The council have been approached about the situation and are meant to have put double yellow lines along the road but nothing has happened yet."
Grandmother Sharon Leith added: "The parking problem poses a danger to children. Half of the people who drop their kids off in cars only live around the corner."
Jodie Lowe, aged 34, who lives on Sandgate Road, said she was fined for parking on a grass verge outside her home, because her allocated parking space had been taken up.
Carl Fletcher, business manager at Glebefields Primary School, said: "It's a common problem faced by many schools, which is made worse by the fact we're in a cul-de-sac. We encourage drivers to respect other people and residents when parking."
Councillor Garrett said officers from the highways department attended the site in August when they agreed to the measures.
"Sandwell Council has had five months to get yellow lines down also a car park built, but there has been absolutely nothing done.
"The problem with parking has been years old." The petition was raised to Sandwell Council leaders at a meeting of the cabinet petitions committee on July 13.
The council's reponse in the board papers said: "It was proposed to implement double yellow lines on the west side of Sandgate Road, Tipton, to prevent vehicles parking on the footway and keep a clear walkway for pedestrians.
"The grassed area on the corner of Windsor Road and Sandgate Road had been identified as a potential new parking area, however, funding would need to be obtained by the local neighbourhood team. Quotations for the work were being sourced."
