Traffic wardens now visit schools in pairs due to abuse threats from parents following parking enforcement.
Sophie Smith, who supervises the council’s officers, told a parent about the issue. The parent asked about parking enforcement at The Discovery School in Kings Hill.
Smith said they can’t be everywhere all the time, as over 40 schools have parking problems. Staff face threats of violence and abuse, and police support is needed for enforcement.
Daniel Doyle asked why new yellow lines were not enforced. He has two kids at The Discovery School and saw a child almost hit by a car.
Doyle walks his kids to school each day and he thinks staff safety is valued more than children’s. Lines were painted last September after 21 years, and wardens came initially, improving things.
After some time passed, wardens stopped returning. Now, old habits returned involving illegal parking. Cars block the road and make crossing dangerous. However, wardens have limited power.
Smith told Mr. Doyle about these constraints directly. Wardens can only give tickets for violations they see; they can’t move vehicles. They cannot manage dangerous parking issues.
Doyle feels traffic wardens don’t enforce rules, which happens as council tax goes up. This is quite disappointing for parents involved, and yellow line delays involved repeated consultations.
Tina Gobell, head of The Discovery School, notes parking issues are common everywhere. The school says child safety is most important. Any measures that help are welcome eagerly.
Parents at the school had varying opinions too. Ray Angel felt new lines made things worse, saying parking moved, becoming more risky away from there.
Angel doesn’t understand the purpose or goals. People park briefly, about 10 to 20 minutes. Nearby residents may dislike it due to school area dynamics.
A mother named Charlie dislikes the yellow lines because she thinks the lines appear very ugly. Parking further away feels unsafe to her, as well. Rushing makes crossing dangerous, she worries too much.
Marianna Smith finds parking very tricky to find now instead. Sandra Parsons walks to pick up her grandchild once each week and sees people ignore the yellow lines daily.
People routinely park on the double yellow lines and almost carelessly park on the zig-zags. Roundabouts become blocked, causing issues for other drivers’ needs.
Claudine Russell, a local councillor in office, notes bad parking happens beyond Tonbridge and Malling. She complained about issues outside another school. Marden Primary Academy has similar troubles. Russell stated parents abandon their cars haphazardly and they park anywhere cars can possibly manage.