A MOTHER who has set up an online petition regarding parking outside a Launceston primary school hopes to obtain more signatures before approaching her MP.
Angie Cantelow, whose son attends St Catherine’s C of E Primary School, set up the petition, which has received more than 80 signatures, and also intends to print copies of it to hand out to parents and local residents.
On the webpage for the online petition she states: “I think it’s safe to say that the traffic issue outside St Catherine’s School on Moorland Road, is an accident waiting to happen.
“The road around the school isn’t capable of withstanding the amount of traffic on a normal weekday and there is nowhere for parents to park safely to enable their children to attend school.
“The only safe place to park is within the hardly used police station car park. Which is no longer an option due to the car park having no insurance and the police are now going to issue fines if it is used.
“St Catherine’s is an excellent school that has grown in size over the last 40 years. Sadly, this hasn’t been taken into consideration by the local council and now needs to be recogonised and changed.”
She told the Post: “There’s nowhere to park safely. The only place is in the police station car park. I have been approached by the police about parking there and told it’s an insurance thing, but if they put a sign up — ‘parking at your own risk’ — that would be fine.
“There’s a new housing estate being built up by the cemetery. They are looking to put another road in with this housing estate but people will go the quickest route.
“It’s just trying to stop the accident before it happens.”
On the petition itself, she added: “What I want to do is get over 200 signatures. I think 200 is the minimum to be honest, and take it from there.
“I haven’t got any plans for what should be put in place, because I want the council to consider every option.”
Ms Cantelow added she intends to make an appointment to speak about the issue with Conservative North Cornwall MP Scott Mann.
On the issue of parents using the police station car park, Senior Inspector for Launceston Paul Norlund told the Post: “It’s a police parking area and it can’t really be used by the public as a parking area to pick up their kids.”
He said there had been an increase in staff at the police station, as Devon and Cornwall Police’s central safeguarding team has moved to Launceston Police Station.
He added: “It’s a private piece of land used for police officers and staff and with an increase of staff, it will get more use.”
He said any parents parking in that car park would be asked to remove their vehicles.
Cornwall Council said that at the last census, the school had 229 pupils.
A spokesperson for the council said: “The issue of inconsiderate parking is a problem which affects a number of schools in Cornwall. We aim to work closely with all schools to help them to deal with this issue proactively by encouraging parents to park safely and considerately.
“Some schools do this by reminding parents that their inconsiderate and dangerous parking is putting both their own children and their children’s friends in danger, while others have designated a safe drop-off point within the school boundary where parents can deliver their children without any need to park and accompany them.
“A few schools have even tried naming and shaming parents who cause a hazard to other pupils, while others have involved their local police neighbourhood team to provide advice or make the occasional visit regarding vehicles parking in a manner likely to cause a hazard.
“If there are any waiting restrictions, clearways, or zig-zag markings at the entrance to the school the police have the powers to ask drivers to move on, or, in some cases, can issue fixed penalty notices if driveways are being blocked.
“The council’s Road Safety team can, if requested by the school, run an initiative called Junior Road Safety Officer, which sees pupils carry out projects to encourage parents to think about where they are parking and encourage them not to park inappropriately or dangerously.
“This has proved successful in some areas because it is the children who are giving the messages to the parents. The team can also supply leaflets, fashioned to look like fixed penalty notices, which some schools have used to put on cars which are parked inconsiderately.”
The petition page is at