Improving Road Safety around our Schools
Residents may have noticed a number of camera poles recently installed around James Oglethorpe School and Engayne School.
These are traffic survey cameras which have been put in place for a week in order to assess vehicular movement in the vicinity of the schools.
This follows on from the many complaints, over quite a number of years, received about selfish parking and hazardous vehicle manoeuvres around the schools and the danger it poses to our schoolchildren.
The Council and schools have tried every sort of strategy to encourage more responsible parking and care around our schools, but a minority persistently choose to ignore any kind of representation.
A new approach is now being piloted which very much focuses on ‘Improving the Safety of our Schools’. The Council will gather data and put together a package of measures to tackle the problem.
Included in this package is an enhanced enforcement presence through CCTV cameras which would cover a specific zone over a designated period (eg morning and afternoon school runs). This is known as a Public Space Protection Order and carries a much tougher penalty regime than the traditional penalty charge notices, even leading to prosecution for very persistent offenders. It is important to stress that residents or other designated vehicles would not be affected by the Public Space Protection Order, but is designed to tackle the less considerate motorists.
Both schools are part of a pilot scheme at the moment and a review will be undertaken so see what works, what doesn’t, what should stay the same, etc.
This is a new approach to an old problem and has attracted much media attention. Many councils across the country (who all have similar problems) have been in touch to enquire about the scheme.
We shall keep you updated on this important issue through the website and the Bulletin.
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