Parents welcome new parking policy for school in Shrewsbury

A new school parking policy for parents dropping off and collecting their children from St Winefride’s Convent School in Belmont, Shrewsbury has been working well since it started early this year (2012). 

Just before and after school, Belmont had been experiencing problems with the high levels of traffic, sometimes leading to risks to children’s safety and issues with drivers’ behaviour. 

A steering group, made up of the local Shropshire Councillor, Andrew Bannerman, parents and school staff, have been working with Shropshire Council to agree a way forward, instead of implementing costly changes to loading restrictions in surrounding town centre streets. 

The new policy means that parents can wait for a maximum of five minutes at designated points near the school when dropping off or collecting their children. They also have to abide by strict rules such as not mounting the pavement, ensuring emergency vehicles can get through at all times, and crossing Belmont at just one place. 

The majority of parents who drive to the Belmont location have signed up to these rules, which aim to keep the road clear and allow safe, orderly and brisk collection of their children.  Since the policy was implemented, pupils’ safety has been enhanced and disruption to other road and pavement users diminished. 

Andrew Bannerman, Shropshire Councillor for Quarry and Coton Hill, said:

“The steering group of parents and staff have worked hard to make the plan work and are to be congratulated.  They hope that all parents who collect their children from the school by car will eventually sign up to the scheme.  This is an excellent example of stakeholders working with the council to solve a problem, which had been ongoing for too long.” 

Councillor Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for traffic management and road safety, added:

“This is a great policy which seems to be working exceptionally well.”