Calls for free parking to be extended

By timesecholife on in All News, Latest News

Parents, community leaders and three schools in a Moorlands town are calling for free parking to be extended to help ease congestion outside schools. The motion for the free parking at Tape Street Car Park in Cheadle to be extended by half an hour was brought to Cheadle Town Council by councillors Phil Routledge and Gary Bentley.

Parents, community leaders and three schools in a Moorlands town are calling for free parking to be extended to help ease congestion outside schools.

The motion for the free parking at Tape Street Car Park in Cheadle to be extended by half an hour was brought to Cheadle Town Council by councillors Phil Routledge and Gary Bentley.

They were backed by three letters which had been sent to the council by Bishop Rawle Primary in Royal Walk, St Giles’ Primary in Charles Street, and Cheadle Primary in The Avenue.

The proposal is to change the charging times at Tape Street Car Park from 9.30am-3.30pm to 9.30am-3pm, to allow parents to be able to park up in the town centre and walk to collect their children from school, without having to pay 90p each day; and furthermore to stop the congestion of cars parked outside and near to the schools.

It was agreed at the recent Cheadle Town Council virtual meeting that the Town Clerk would write on behalf of the council, to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) – the authority which has remit over Tape Street Car Park – to request that the free parking times are extended to allow parents to use the car park when picking up their children from school.

The campaign for the free parking to be extended was started by Zenobia Routledge who has a child at Bishop Rawle.

Zenobia told the Times & Echo: “At a school PTA meeting it was brought up that the school had brought new road safety signs, due to the amount of parents parking on Royal Walk right outside the school, when dropping their children for school and also when collecting them in an afternoon.

“I then suggested to the PTA, that I could approach the council with regards to making the free car parking earlier in the afternoon, to encourage parents to use the car park more.

“Firstly though I went along to speak to St Giles and Cheadle Primary schools to ask if they have the same problem with parking.

“Each school explained that, yes they did have the same problem, and agreed to write a letter to the council outlining the problems with parking that they were facing and asking the council to extend the free parking to earlier in the afternoon from 3.30pm to 3pm, to enable parents to use the car park more.

“After collecting the letters, I took them to the council and asked if this issue could possibly be put to the council for discussion at their next meeting. It was then discussed at the following meeting, where the councils agreed to support this issue.”

Zenobia added: “Parents are often put off using the car park for the brief pick up time because of the overall cost which would be incurred on a daily basis.

“I feel as a parent, that I would like to try and make the school run a safer place, not only for my child but for everyone’s child.

“I am hoping this will go ahead to ease congestion around the schools, to make it safer for children and to keep families safe.

“It also helps improve mental and physical health, whilst encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

“Parents would be able to use and support the local economy by using the shops more.

“Residents in streets by schools would be happier that people are no longer parking outside residents property and causing congestion.”

The Times & Echo contacted SMDC for a response about the proposal. A spokesperson for the district council said: “Earlier this year we carried out a survey to seek views from residents, businesses and visitors as part of the review we are currently undertaking into parking at all our Moorlands car parks.

“We’re now evaluating the responses we received as we develop our strategy for delivering parking services which best suit the needs of all users and we’ll be sharing our thoughts and plans with everyone in due course.”

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