Parking concerns raised at St Paul's primary school

The parking at St Paul’s Church of England Primary School, off Langleybury Lane, is being investigated after concerns were raised by the school.

During drop-off and pick-up times, parents often spill out onto the main road and park on pavements and grass verges with local county councillor Phil Williams admitting it is an “accident waiting to happen”. Speeding has also been highlighted.

Vehicles are often parked on these grass verges in Langlebury Lane by parents at St Paul's CoE Primary School

In a bid to tackle the issue, Three Rivers District Council launched a survey seeking feedback on a plan it has drawn up.

The council is proposing painting double yellow lines along sections of Langleybury Lane, while also creating dedicated parking bays along a smaller section of the road, to make the area safer and less “obstructive” for passing drivers.

A proposal drawn up by the council. The red lines show where double yellow lines are planned, with blue lines showing where parking bays will be. The yellow shows existing double yellow lines

However, St Paul’s, which is also working with Hertfordshire County Council, does not believe the proposal will solve one of the core issues, which is a lack of places to park.

Claire Jones, a parent and member of the working party group at the school, said: “We have very limited parking spaces available for parents and the parking restrictions being suggested means parents cannot park on the verges.

“I understand why these [restrictions] are being suggested, but at the same time, it will make parking even more challenging than it is now.

“Our main priority is keeping children safe while accessing the school, so we need to find a solution that does this.”

Some of the parking in Langleybury Lane

A spokesperson for the school added: “Parking has been a problem for some years, and at times it has caused dangerous situations with access blocked for emergency vehicles, and we believe this is because we do not have the right parking provisions in place to prevent this.

“Whilst some progress has been made, we believe the proposals that the council is making will not help the situation, instead make it worse.

“We have tried to make our own improvements such as encouraging parents to park further away from the school."

This is the road off Langleybury Lane that leads to the school where vehicles park, but parking often spills onto Langleybury Lane itself

They added: “However, we still need to find a solution to the lack of parking spaces we have for parents, with the priority being to keep everyone safe.”

The survey can be found here and the proposal can be seen here.