Petition details
Prevent parking on school markings at Arnhem Wharf Primary School
This petition was written by children from the Arnhem Wharf School Council.
This Petition ran from 12/06/2019 to 29/07/2019 and has now finished.
25 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Thank you for the petition raised at Full Council.
Parking by parents to drop their children off is a problem across the borough. Our Parking and Mobility Services provide various support to schools to manage this. They offer liaison meetings with new parents at the beginning of the year (September), provide school crossing patrols and take enforcement action via on foot patrol's and CCTV.
The Council has been contacted by the Head Teacher of the school and a local Councillor about the parking issues. The school informed us that they have tried to reach out to parents about the parking issues. They have also invested in friendly signage and artwork to further appeal to parents to avoid parking in a manner that presents risk to the children of the school. It seems that these actions are having insufficient impact on resolving the issue.
The Council has been enforcing parking restrictions at the school for a number of years and has issued penalties on both Westferry Road and Arnhem Wharf. Earlier this year we stepped up enforcement and have doubled our efforts recently. Between 1 January and 9 September 2019, 253 visits were made and 197 penalties were issued.
A Civil Enforcement Officer has to observe the vehicle for a period of time to identify if any permitted activity is taking place. However, in this case our officers will work to the assumption that a vehicle is parked illegally unless there is a child already waiting to be picked up at the car.
We have had some success with the keep clear (zig zag) markings, as it enables us to enforce by CCTV. We have, however, received some complaints from residents and other road users that parents have been displaced further along Westferry Road near the corners.
Our Civil Enforcement Officers have also reported that the parents creating the safety issues often do not cooperate when they are asked to move along or stop parking in the way they do. There has also been an increase in the number of Blue Badges displayed in vehicles as well. These badges allow motorists to park for up to three hours on a yellow line.
The Council will continue to send its officers to monitor the issues and take action against the owners of offending vehicles.
Our Development Team will look into the traffic management around the school and will consider adding further zig zag lines and loading bans (which prevent any parking including Blue Badge parking). We will also seek to extend the parking for school transport vehicles so that there is less dependence on parents to drop off children with mobility issues.
To promote safe, sustainable travel for parents and pupils, the school can engage with Transport for London's Sustainable Travel: Active, Responsible, Safe (STARS) scheme. This will put you in touch with your local borough officer who will support you throughout the accreditation process, help you create a School Travel Plan and select the most suitable activities for your school to address your travel issues, and reach your active travel targets. Each activity you complete is a step closer to gaining STARS accreditation.
The benefits of accreditation include improving pupils' emotional health and wellbeing and encourage healthier travel behaviours and habits such as walking, scooting and cycling to school.
You can sign up for the STARS scheme on the Transport for London website: https://stars.tfl.qov.uk/Account/Reqister.
To follow up on your application once registered contact Jack
Ettinger — Development Team Leader:
Jack.Ettinqeratowerhamlets.gov.uk
020 7364 6569
The Council has started to receive complaints from parents affected by our enforcement actions who believe they have no other parking options. We will be working with our school safety team to plan more parent and school engagements about safer parking controls and alternatives to driving to school and will be handing out leaflets on why it is important to park away from school vicinity.