Stratford residents call for ‘more respectable’ parking on street used by students
RESIDENTS on a Stratford street have called for more respect from the students who use the area to park.
Darlow Drive is located off Alcester Road, a short walk from both Stratford upon Avon School and Stratford College. Building work at the school has restricted the number of parking spots on site with some of the older
students having to look for parking on nearby streets which do not have yellow lines or other restrictions.
The situation has caused some friction between residents and students.
The Herald was contacted by a parent who said her daughter went to park on the road and found that residents had placed their bins out to prevent parking. She pointed out that the road is a public highway and not a private
road.
The Herald also spoke to some of the residents of Darlow Drive who called for action.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “We’ve done something because we are sick of the students parking here.
“An ambulance couldn’t get up Wilson Drive because of the cars parked up. We have students here littering when they are in their cars, this has been going on for years.
“Our driveways get blocked. We have no problem with people parking around here but we just call on people to be respectful and considerate.
“The cars sometimes go speeding around the bend. Sooner or later they will hit someone the way they come around. This is why we wanted to let them know that whilst it’s OK to park here, they need to be respectful.”
Another resident said that several people living on the road have formed a Darlow Drive Action Group. He said: “We’ve had horns blowing, rubbish thrown out and so on. They’re parking on the pavement and causing disruption.
“We’ve had a lot of correspondence with the school. They seem to dismiss this by saying that they’ve got building work going on.
“Last November we had an incident, which I wasn’t involved in, when three vehicles started off down the road and they were jousting each other. One went over onto the grass area and onto the pavement then reversed back, nearly hit a car and then sped up the road.
“It’s not all of them, it’s a certain section of people that seem to be rushing. They’re parking their cars wherever they can get and go off to school. They’re causing us a lot of problems within the estate.”
The resident added that he didn’t believe it was safe when his family came to visit as a result of the extra parked cars.
“I’ve got two daughters and four grandchildren all together and they regularly come here so they need to park outside my house because the kids are running around,” he said. “I’m also worried from a safety point of view, there could be an accident.
“We think that if we don’t have a voice now the situation will only get worse.”
Stratford School declined the opportunity to comment when approached by the Herald. Stratford College said they were unaware of any problems with parking but would be investigating.
