Keynsham residents want yellow lines to stop school run chaos

Residents of St Francis Road in Keynsham are calling for double yellow lines in their street in a bid to stop parking chaos when parents drop off and collect their children from school.

Zig zag lines are painted on the road outside Broadlands School and on the opposite side there are parking bays painted on the road outside residents' homes.

But there are not enough bays to cope with all the parents driving to the school which has more than 1,000 pupils, many of whom live in Bristol.

It has led to cars blocking driveways, confrontations between home owners and motorists, and the narrow road being inaccessible to emergency vehicles, buses and lorries.

Ten residents went to a Police and Communities Together meeting held at the school to call for action to stop inconsiderate parking.

Retired postman Mike Golledge, 61, who has lived in St Francis Road for 20 years, said: "It's chaos out here at 3pm.

"If an ambulance was trying to get to someone who had suffered a heart attack, it would not get up that road in ten minutes.

"The school has asked parents to park at Keynsham Football Club so their children can go in the back entrance but the message has been ignored.

"We need double yellow lines all along the road."

One couple who needed to get to their daughter's house when their grandchild was ill, could not get out of their own drive because of a car parked across it.

Betty Fuge (c), 69, said: "Many times I have found a car parked right outside our drive. The drivers are often loathe to move, as if they have a right to be there.

"It is a serious issue. If an ambulance or a fire engine needed to get here they couldn't get along this road.

"Something needs to be done about it."

Retired technical author John Evans, 73, said: "People do park in front of the drive but if I have wanted to go out they have generally been obliging.

"There are jams in the road and people have parked on the pavement on the other side of the road."

Police Community Support Officers have been patrolling to try to prevent obstruction of the pavement and driveways but residents would like a more permanent solution.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "Half the problem is caused by staff parking in the road instead of the spaces provided for them at the back of the school.

"This reduces the spaces for parents dropping off their children. You can understand why residents are not happy when they can't get in their own drive.

"There are two people who persistently park across my drive and often you get abuse."

In one incident a man asked a motorist not to park outside his home on a particular day because funeral cars needed to park there. The reply from the driver was: "Other people park here."

Another resident says she suffered vandalism after she complained to the school.

Web designer Michael Oram, 17, a sixth-former at Wellsway School, said: "Some drivers have no regard for the fact that people live here.

"You do get foul language sometimes if you ask them to move.

"I drive to Wellsway but parking is not too bad there."

Broadlands School governor Vivien (c) Dalton, who also lives in St Francis Road, said: "I can understand why people feel the way they do.

"This has been discussed by the governors and the school has done its very best in publicising the Park and Stride scheme where people can park at Keynsham Football Club but no-one takes any notice.

Residents raised the issue with North East Somerset MP Dan Norris earlier this year.

Mr Norris said: "Despite B&NES Council previously indicating to me in the summer that enforcement action would be taken, it's very concerning that residents are still waiting for these important issues to be properly addressed.

"The fact the issue has escalated to such an extent that it's become a PACT priority underlines its seriousness to the local community.

"This week I have written to B&NES, not only to find out the reasons these concerns persist but also, importantly, to obtain a definite timescale for action. Having previously also raised residents' concerns, I have again written to the police and head teacher of Broadlands, to try to help move things forward as quickly as possible."