A Queenstowner’s frustrated at council’s inaction over school parents illegally parking on a reserve to pick up their young fry — however, a council spokesperson says it’s not some thing they’re currently looking to resolve.
Since last September, Frankton’s Fiona McDonald’s contacted council ‘‘pretty much once a month’’ over Remarkables Primary parents using the Boyes Crescent reserve despite ‘no parking on verge’ signage.
Up to 30 cars use it over a 40-minute period every school-day afternoon which is enough to turn the grass into ‘‘a muddy bowl’’ when it rains, she says.
‘‘If I parked on the Queenstown Gardens, I’m sure I’d be told what to do, pretty quickly.
‘‘There’s a complete lack of respect for the reserve.
‘‘We have very limited green space in Queenstown, and if the public don’t want to treat this with respect, well, then, just develop it.’’
McDonald says parents are also driving over a kerb to use a McBride Street reserve opposite the school’s bus stop.
When she confronted a driver about parking there, ‘‘she said, ‘so what, we all do it’, and then wound her window back up’’.
Two or three months ago, she says a council employee contacted her about fencing the Boyes Cr reserve, but indicated there could be budgetary constraints, then, last month was told the contractor was busy but the job was in a priority queue.
But council spokesperson Sam White says while they appreciate McDonald’s concerns, ‘‘short-term parking at this location is not something
we’re currently looking to resolve’’.
‘‘The road reserve and reserve itself are wide here, and we have fenced off areas of reserve closer to the school entrance to prevent parking there at drop-off and pick-up.’’
White says they work closely with schools to manage parking in a ‘‘balanced way’’, bearing in mind parents’ needs for access at specific times while minimising congestion.
‘‘We will of course take action on any illegal parking (e.g. broken yellow lines, double parking, etc) that is reported to us.
‘‘To date we have received no reports of any issues from the school itself.’’
