By BRIDGET SCOTT
RESIDENTS living near Lyndhurst Primary School say they don’t know what more they can do to stop people from parking across their driveways and along their nature strips during school peak hours.
Resident Amber Barton said it was a daily occurence with people collecting or dropping children off at the nearby school.
“There are cars literally parking in your driveway and then people are walking across the road,” she said.
Ms Barton said in one instance a car parked right across her driveway and she was unable to get out of her house for more than 40 minutes.
She also said only this week she saw a woman drive straight into her neighbour’s driveway and leave her car there.
“It’s just not good enough,” she said.
She said her family had also had people park across their nature strips after which her partner put stakes on the grass to deter this.
“We’re part of a body corporate, so we have to maintain it,” she said.
However, the couple found themselves between a rock and a hard place after council forced them to remove the stakes.
She said parking had been a problem since the school opened in 2011.
Lyndhurst Primary School principal Gregory Lacey said the school was aware of a number of issues around parking – including parents using staff parking spaces and disabled spots.
“It has been discussed at length at school council and has been highlighted in our school newsletter a number of times over recent years,” he said.
“We continue to communicate with parents about parking etiquette and safety. There is plenty of parking around our school if parents are prepared to walk a short distance, and we continue to remind our parents of the concerns of our neighbours as well as the serious safety issues for children.”
He said staff had designated parking spaces within the school to allow for more space outside the grounds.
Resident Steve Devries said as the volume of students continued to increase each year, the problem got worse.
“It’s putting more pressure on surrounding streets,” he said.
He suggested that people park at the nearby football oval, but said people were “too impatient.”
