Residents want action on school parking (From Oxford Mail)

Residents want action on school parking

2:00pm Wednesday 7th March 2012 in Bicester By Sam McGregor , covering Bicester. Call me on 01869 250197

RESIDENTS are so fed up with school-run parents parking across driveways they want double yellow lines painted outside their homes.

People living in Bicester's Bucknell Road and Stoneburge Crescent say they face a daily battle to get in and out of their properties when youngsters are dropped off and picked up at Brookside Primary School.

One resident described the road as a “conveyor belt” of traffic for 30 minutes at the start of the school day, and again at going-home time.

Now residents are so fed up they have asked Oxfordshire County Council to step in.

Insurance broker Tony Madden, 50, who lives in Bucknell Road, said he had been late for work and missed appointments because people had blocked his driveway.

He said: “They just park where there’s a space, and if that space is directly over our driveway, they still park there so you can’t get your car out.

“It’s something that can be avoided, but it just seems a minority think they can park there only for a couple of minutes and it doesn’t matter.

Brookside’s headteacher Nick Cornell said he had put notices in the school news- letter asking parents to park considerately.

He said: “It is a small minority who park inconsiderately and we sympathise with the problems our neighbours experience.

“Our main priority is the safety of our children, which is why we request that parents/carers respect parking restrictions to ensure Bucknell Road is safe to cross and we do not upset our neighbours.”

County council spokesman Marcus Mabberly said: “Additional parking restrictions would of course equally apply to residents and other road users.

“Any proposal to install double yellow lines at this location would have to go through a consultation process, where objections would probably be likely.”