Parents irked by reckless parking outside Rainham school

They say children attending Newton’s Primary School in Rainham are vulnerable to accidents due to cars parked on yellow lines and zig zag road markings.

The Lowen Road school used to have railings when a bus stop was outside the school, but they were later removed, allowing parents to park in front of the school easily.

And some parents even park on a pedestrian crossing in front of the school.

A car parked on the zig zag crossing outside school (Image: Jackie Hedges)

Gemma Bevan, who has four children studying at the school, told the Recorder: “It’s the parking on the crossing that’s the main issue.

“With the railings being removed, it’s impacted the entrance to the nursery, so kids coming out of the school will go into the road because there is no railing to stop them anymore.”

Gemma added that she has herself had a near miss while dropping her kids at school when a passing vehicle scraped the side of her arm.

Another parent, Faye Colville, said that the drivers of the parked cars are unable to see people at the crossing and could potentially harm them. She added: “When cars are pulling up on the pavement you have to move out of the way and it can be restricting for prams and wheelchairs”.

Jackie Hedges, whose children and grandchildren went to the school, said the site is an “accident waiting to happen” and partly blamed parents parking directly outside the school.

She said: “I’ve pulled up there twice and spoke to people that are parked on the zigzag. One mother said to me ‘I won’t be here very long’ and the second one pretended she didn’t realise she was on the zigzag and did not bother to move”.

The parents have collectively appealed to the school multiple times to have a teacher or a monitor to stop the parents from parking outside the school. The school, they said, have tried temporary measures but claim their “hands are tied”.

Recently, councillors Trevor Mckeever and Matt Stanton took up the issue with Havering Council and had a school sign that had been removed was reinstated.

Cllr Stanton said he was concerned by the indifference parents he spoke to displayed. He said: “I approached several drivers to ask them why they chose to park there as they not only risk a ticket but also the safety of others.

“Unfortunately, some drivers don’t see it as a problem, but these markings are here for a reason, to indicate that it isn’t safe to park there”

Cllr Stanton has also discussed the issue with the head teacher. He added: “I saw people dropping off children who had mobility issues, and I have asked the school to work with these parents to facilitate safe drop-off and pick-up for those children on the school grounds.” 

A spokesperson for Havering Council said the council’s enforcement officers have a rota system in place to ensure that schools are regularly visited.

She said: “In April we visited the school 31 times and observed 17 offenders, and issued 15 penalty tickets.”

She added that officers will continue to patrol schools to reduced dangers posed by irresponsible parking. 

Newton’s Primary School was contacted by the Recorder, but had not responded at the time of publication.