Complaints of clogged up roads as parents refuse to use muddy park and stride

People living in Paynesdown Road have said that parents of pupils at Parson’s Down infant (pictured) and junior schools have been parking on pavements, across driveways, and some have even pulled on to drives, as they take their children to and from the sites, which are located in Paynesdown Road and Herons Way.
Some have said that the situation has become so bad that their working and social lives are being affected as they cannot get out of Paynesdown Road or, in some cases, off their driveways during school dropping off and picking up times.
Marie Worthy, of Paynesdown Road, said that the problems occurred every morning and afternoon and appeared to be getting worse lately.
She said: “It’s affecting our lives now. It’s quite annoying. I think people are just getting lazier – nobody walks anymore.”
Her neighbour Yvonne Cooper said that the situation was getting so bad that she would not be surprised if one of the children was to get knocked over by a car because of the number of people parking on the pavements.
“Sometimes I cannot get in my driveway,” she added. “Just lately it seems to be getting worse. I think it’s lazy mums.
“I understand that people have to get to work, but there’s being polite and courteous.”
Another resident, Darren Pettifer, said: “It’s even worse when it’s raining. People want to get as close as possible.
“It’s getting worse and worse. There needs to be a drop off point where parents can drive into the school grounds.”
Headteacher Petrina Winsor said that she wanted to assure parents that the school was doing what it could to try to improve the situation.
She said that they had already implemented several schemes to alleviate the parking problems, including rewarding the pupils who walked to school, allowing pupils to ride scooters to school and providing an area for them to be parked, liaising with the council to get a toucan crossing installed on Lower Way and starting a bikeability scheme to teach children to ride bicycles safely on the roads at the start of Year 6.
She said: “We are doing as much as we physically can. I think residents are having a very difficult time because there are a few parents who do thoughtlessly park.”
A park and stride scheme was set up last year at the Nature Discovery Centre, Muddy Lane, but some parents have refused to use it because the surface gets very muddy.
Mrs Winsor said: “I understand what they are saying,” adding that she was available to parents wishing to discuss the parking issues.

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Following a recent article in the Newbury Weekly News about the poor condition of the surface, more parents have admitted to continuing to park in the road. They say that they are refusing to use the Muddy Lane car park because if it rains, their children’s clothes are getting covered in a wet, sandy mud.
A new surface was laid at the centre at the end of last year specifically to provide the schools with a park and stride scheme in a bid to alleviate congestion, at a cost of £106,000.
One parent, who asked not to be named, said that she had used the park and stride but would not do so again.
She said: “Firstly, when the ground gets slightly wet it becomes a nightmare to walk across for both children and parents. It’s like walking across a muddy pond. The children’s clothes get caked with the dust that comes off the material used for the road and bringing wellington boots is not an option when you have two children or more in tow, due to the fact of the amount of bags they have to carry.
“It is uncomfortable for them to sit all day in muddy clothes and I would not put my children through this.
“Secondly, most of us mums go straight to work after the school run. We also do not like to turn up at work in clothes that look like we have been on a 10-mile ramble through the countryside.”
Another parent, Jenny Canning, said: “I leave home extra early to get parked in a proper parking space outside the school that does not obstruct the local residents.
“When we were told of the park and stride we did give it ago, but my car and the children got covered in yellow/brown sludgy stuff. It was everywhere.
“The car park is in an ideal place next to the school and crossing, but unless something is done about the surface in the car park we will not be using it.”
Another parent, who also did not want to be named, said that he believed the only way to solve the problem was to simply change the surface.
West Berkshire Council's member for the environment, Hilary Cole (Con, Chieveley), reiterated her view that the surface was “fit for purpose”.
Council spokeswoman Peta Stoddart-Crompton said: “It is up to the individual whether they use the car park. We are pleased with the take up, which has been high, and the park and stride is proving a success.”