MORNING MAYHEM
We’re being forced off the road by council school run rules – they want us to walk but we fear kids will be hurt
Teachers will be rewarding walking or cycling to school with badges
PARENTS claim they are being forced off the roads in the mornings by crazy council school run rules designed to make them walk instead.
The new restrictions are aimed at reducing congestion but critics say they are just pushing traffic into surrounding areas.
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Shropshire Council introduced a set of traffic regulations around several schools in the county this month.
The scheme sees the roads surrounding the schools monitored by number plate recognition cameras, with parents having to apply for a permit to enter at drop-off and pick-up times.
Anyone spotted using the routes without a permit will face a fine.
Council and school officials have previously stated that this aims to get residents to park further away and then walk or use the bus to get their kids in instead.
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However, some of those living near Mereside Primary School in Shrewsbury claim that the restrictions have simply pushed the problem onto nearby residential streets.
Locals told that they had seen parents forced to park on junctions and in bus stops to avoid the controlled zone.
Others shared concerns about children having to cross the road between parked cars, as well as worrying that the congestion could block emergency vehicles.
One resident said: "I get it, people have got to drop their kids off, they've got to go to work.
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"[But the council are] either going to have to put in a zebra crossing or a lollipop lady so that the children can cross and not be hit by a car.
"If it's not a child that's going to get hit, somebody’s going to crash a car.
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"We can’t get out, because you can't see what's coming, and they can’t see us coming out."
They went on to emphasise that they were not opposed to parents parking on their street but that "they don't see what it's doing" to the area.
Discussing the new scheme when it was introduced earlier this month, Merside assistant principal Ffion Carr said: "The safe spaces for people to park have got less and less
"What we have seen is parking that has been blocking eyeline for children to be able to cross safely or for people to be able to actually get through at certain times of the day.
"So I think this area was chosen because it was an ideal venue really to try to reduce the amount of traffic."
She added that allowances had been made in the scheme to support children with additional needs in consultation with parents and that general feedback has been "OK".
A spokesperson for Shropshire Council said: "The extent of the School Street has been decided to create a safe zone for children when they enter and leave school.
"Our main objective is to encourage parents to actively travel to school and leave their cars at home rather than park in nearby streets, and we encourage residents to let us know if there are any issues that we need to take into account, such as displaced parking
"We’re working with Mereside Primary School to encourage more walking and cycling to school so there is less displacement."
The council also said it was monitoring the levels of displaced traffic and that the school would be awarding badges to children who had travelled sustainably and providing a "bike bus".
And they urged residents to contact the council or police if any vehicles were obstructing the road.
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Kirstie Hurst-Knight, cabinet member for children and education, previously said that the scheme had made the journey in safer for children and allowed them to walk or cycle instead of coming by car.
She went on: "This reduces children’s exposure to air pollution on part of their journey to school and from cars with idling engines outside the school gates"
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