A decision is due on a request by neighbours to end ‘dangerous’ and ‘disorderly’ parking in a neighbourhood of Reading which has three schools nearby.
A group of 16 neighbours living in Southcote have requested changes to parking in their area to Reading Borough Council.
The neighbours want marked parking lanes along a stretch of Southcote Lane, Silchester Road to be closed at school drop-off and pick-up times for Southcote Primary School, and the introduction of permit parking in four residential streets.
The requests were made in a petition to the council’s traffic management sub-committee.
Sam Darlington, who devised the petition, said: “This has been a persistent issue for decades, as parking is a persistent issue across the borough.
“The parking situation, particularly around school drop off and pick ups is dangerous, disruptive and disorderly in Southcote.
“Examples of these dangerous behaviours include parking in the exclusion zone of zebra crossings, on verges which are important sight lines areas and blocking access to pavements in an area of three schools immediately in the vicinity.
“Hundreds of pupils aged from five are walking, scooting and cycling every weekday. Local residents have been late for work and taking kids home due to people parking persistently across their drives.
“Buses and ambulances have drawn to a standstill, sometimes disrupting the bus timetable upwards of 15 minutes and having rippling effects on transport across the borough.”
The schools Mr Darlington referred to are The Wren and the Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic secondary schools, and Southcote Primary School.
The proposals specifically ask for marked parking bays along Southcote Lane, between its junctions with Southcote Farm Lane and Circuit Lane, the weekday closure of Silchester Road between 7.30am and 8.45amn and 2.15pm to 3.30pm, and the expansion of permit parking to Fawley Road, Aldworth Close, Southcote Farm Lane, and Shepley Drive.
The request for these measures was submitted to the council in March last year, with highways officers conducting a study into feasibility and implementation.
However, the changes have been recommended for refusal by Jim Chen, an assistant engineer of network services in the council’s highways department.
Addressing the request for marked parking bays, Mr Chen wrote: “The council does not typically mark individual on-street parking bays due to the large
variation in vehicle sizes necessitating that the bays accommodate the largest likely vehicles, leading to a decrease in potential parking capacity.”
On the closure of Silchester Road, Mr Chen recommended the creation of a ‘School Street’ which would be managed by neighbours and volunteers from Southcote Primary.
Finally, he argued that making the four streets listed as permit only would be unnecessary as parking in these streets was never observed as being at ‘full capacity’.
The proposals are set to be discussed at a traffic management sub-committee meeting on Thursday, March 6.
