Parents and workers push for more to be done to ‘nightmare’ Brentwood road

Essex County Council removed 26 waiting and parking spaces on Sawyers Hall Lane, Brentwood, earlier this year, to allow for a widened footway. 

One of the main problems residents have been having to deal with is the school-run traffic, as parents picking up their children usually park on the side of the roads, an issue highlighted on a Channel 5 documentary aired in 2018. 

The cul-de-sac is in the unusual position of having six schools on its length – St Thomas of Canterbury C of E junior and infant schools, St Helen’s Catholic junior and infant schools, Grove House School, and Becket Keys C of E secondary school. 

Traffic warden Jill Hall told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that despite the works, there are still problems with the sheer volume of students and parents with young children battling for the same stretch of pavement. 

For example, the council has not widened the pavement on the other side of the road opposite St Thomas primary school. 

This has led to some parents, especially those with buggies, having to walk into the road to get past the stream of secondary school children. 

Ms Hall, who works outside St Thomas’s, said: “I can’t understand why they haven’t widened this bit here. It is here that is more dangerous. Parents that are coming to school can’t get round the corner of Highland Avenue when Becket Keys are coming out. If they did the bit down the bottom, why couldn’t they do this part?” 

Sawyers Hall Lane was one of three locations chosen for improvement works by Essex County Council (Image: Google)

Another parent said the main issue was the number of schools operating in the same small stretch. 

She said: “It’s a nightmare. It has improved a little bit. But some cars just drive past. It’s just really busy I find it hard to walk because Becket Keys come along and you have to push against the current. It’s just a busy road and there are too many schools down here.” 

A spokesperson for Essex County Council said: “Initial measures to improve the walking environment of Sawyers Hall Lane were installed over the summer holidays. 

“Further measures are under consideration and are being discussed by the Brentwood Active Travel steering group, which includes representatives from Essex County Council, Brentwood Borough Council and the schools along Sawyers Hall Lane. Further interventions are subject to funding being available.”