'Someone will get killed' as ban on parents using school car park causes traffic mayhem

Lodge Farm Primary School, Pineneedle Croft, Willenhall has been accused of disregarding the schoolchildren’s safety by ‘banning’ parents from the on-site car park. They now allow access to staff only, after saying the amount of cars manoeuvring in the car park at peak times was jeopardising the safety of the pupils.

The headteacher, Mrs Natalie Boys, said: “The growth of our school over the last few years had meant that once staff and parents’ cars were on-site there was very little room for pupils to come in and out of school safely. There had been many incidents of children almost being hit and hurt by parents’ cars in the car park, so the decision was taken to close the car park in order to safeguard our pupils, as this is always our priority.”

She said the rules are in line with other schools’ in the area, and parents were informed of them before the Easter break.

Many parents are in support of the idea, with one saying they have had ‘numerous e-mails’ from the school in advance.

Lodge Farm has also sought agreement from local pub The Homestead to allow parents to park in its car park, which is a short walk away, whilst offering free after school clubs, breakfast clubs, and a walking bus – where children gather at a safe point and are walked up to the school by a teacher – to prevent danger from crowding cars.

But Lee Holmes, 27, who has two daughters at the school, is angry about the decision by the school, and feels it’s increasing the risk of children getting hurt.

He said: “We used to park up this side street (Pineneedle Croft) and other people used to park down Furzebank Way, but there’s been double yellow lines put there and those pedestrian and cycling zone signs.

“The school has moved us from the car park onto the side street, now all the cars are stuck together – there’s nothing you can do, someone’s going to get knocked down or killed.”

Colin Sargent, 60, drops his four-year-old grandson off every day at the school. He is currently out of work after a recent knee replacement and was granted a blue badge permit, allowing him to park in accessible areas. He says he is uncertain on whether he can park on-site or not, and claims he has been getting mixed messages off the school: “I’m told different things, so I don’t know at the moment. When my grandson sees his friends, he just gets up and runs off, and I can’t keep up to make sure he’s safe.”

A 36-year-old dinner lady and cleaner at the school, Gemma, says she has to arrive at 2pm to start work at 3pm, otherwise she won’t be able to get through: “Parents will come in that early to pick their kids up, that we have to come to work an hour early. It’s a nightmare.”

Gemma Benfield, 37, is a parent who supports the school’s idea: “A lot of parents are backing the school. Closing Pineneedle Croft was the best idea, and I still drive my kids to school, I just park round the corner and walk up - which is quicker than people trying to drive as close as possible to the school gates.”

A resident near the school, Michael Ashford, faces daily difficulties caused by the standstill traffic outside his home. The 75-year-old said: “It’s every day, its unbelievable, they won’t give in to each other. They park either side of the road and nobody can get by. If emergency services had to get up here they just couldn’t. We don’t even try and get off the drive until after 9am because it’s impossibleA lot of them live close-by.” He said how parents will use his driveway to do a U-turn while he’s doing the gardening on the front lawn.

Chris Starkey, 36, has four boys, two of which are currently at Lodge Farm, along with a 14 and 15-year old who previously attended: “I can only assume they closed the car park due to child welfare and a bit of road rage to be honest. I admit that I was involved in the road rage because a lot of parents were not respecting other parents in terms of where to position their vehicles. There was a number of times where I’d be stood there directing traffic, as a parent I shouldn’t be doing that. The children have to be safe coming from the street, which is literally gridlocked, into school. It takes one time for a child to walk out behind a car and get hurt.

“It’s not a bad school. It’s an absolutely fantastic school - if it wasn’t then my four kids wouldn’t have come here.”