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Pupils and parents from St Mary’s School Hampstead
in Fitzjohns Avenue protesting against parking permits
being cut |
Jamie's knives out over school-run clampdown
Celeb chef fears loss of permits
will bring Town Hall fines windfall
CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools have
joined Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor, Radio DJ Jono Coleman
and hundreds of Hampstead parents and teachers objecting to
Camden Council’s school-run clampdown.
The stars have added their voices to the Schools Travel Action
Group (Stag), which has collected a petition of 1,300 signatures
demanding the council reverse its policy of phasing out school
parking permits, which Stag claims was imposed without proper
consultation or workable alternatives.
Council leaders insist the policy is vital to cut afternoon
rush-hour traffic and that it has the backing of residents fed-up
of their parking bays being taken by parents in four-wheel drives.
But Jools Oliver, who lives with her husband in Primrose Hill
and sends her daughters to school in Hampstead, said: “We
are parents like any others who just want to find a way to take
our children to and from school safely and efficiently and get
on with our daily lives.
“Not everybody has the luxury of living close enough to
walk to school. It is hard with young children in tow. The parking
permits were a great solution by allowing us to park safely.
“By withdrawing them, with no alternatives in place, the
council is already causing chaos.”
Mr McGregor, who lives with his family in Hampstead, said: “People
should have the right to deliver and pick up their children
from school without being fined for parking.
“The permits allow us 15 minutes and usually cars are parked
for less time than that.
“Without the permits Camden can target the schools and
make thousands in fines but should we not have the right to
see our children safely to school every day?”
And Mr Coleman added: “Withdrawing permits is just another
revenue ploy by Camden Council to issue more parking tickets,
but they are trying to make it sound like it is a residents
issue when it isn’t.”
A scrutiny panel of councillors last year recommended phasing
out all school parking permits by 2008 and 40 per cent of the
6,500 permits originally in circulation have already been rescinded.
Mum Vicky Fobel, a solicitor with two children who is involved
in the campaign, said: “There’s nothing I’d love
more than to walk to school, or take public transport, but it’s
just not feasible; we can’t afford to live closer to the
school and there is simply no room on the buses for a buggy
in the morning.
“If there was a practical alternative people would use
it – a school bus, for example – but the public transport
improvements are simply not there.”
Stag, backed by 15 private schools and three state primaries
– is arguing that parents with no other option will continue
to drive, causing chaos as they repeatedly circle the block
waiting for their children to emerge from the school gates.
Sarum Hall head teacher Jane Scott added: “We have already
seen that cutting down permits has not stopped parents from
driving to school.”
Stag’s petition will be presented to the council by parents
on March 1, with parking likely to be a key election issue in
May.
A Town Hall press official said: “Residents were concerned
that the volume of traffic and illegal and dangerous parking
during the school run was blocking up the roads, making the
streets dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists and having a
detrimental effect on the local environment.
“The aim is not to stop all parents driving their children
to school, but to encourage people to think about healthier
and more environmentally friendly alternatives and that if they
do drive, to park appropriately.” |
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