London school streets - parking on single/double lines outside of the school zone

[grumpysoreoldnotyet40]

As per my username I am grumpy, sore, tired and fed up. Also a mum of two youngsters whom I love but exhaust me.

im getting increasingly pissed off with parents of the kids on the school street I live on, parking within the CPZ that I live in, because my house is not in the school street zone, and they can still drive their little darlings to their Catholic school. They put a sign on the dash saying “dropping or collecting child from school”, sometimes put their hazards on, and then they don’t get fined (the parking wardens are vicious with everyone but them).

during the heatwave I have had cheeky bastards idling their car outside my house in the afternoon, where the baby’s bedroom window is open and he’s sleeping. So now he gets to breathe in petrol or diesel so that the cheeky bastards can sit in air conditioned comfort. But at least their darlings don’t get exposed to that outside their school.

It also pisses me off that by parking on the double yellows they’re making it dangerous for drivers who are turning left on the intersection because they can’t see other traffic entering the intersection.

plus, for gods sake i don’t own a car but I pay £400 for an annual visitors pass to park a hire car outside my house when we need one. And because of these super important parents parking in the CPZ (that they don’t pay for!!) I end up having to drag two huge extended rear facing car seats to my door from wherever I can find a space.

am I being unreasonable to moan to the council about how parents are getting around the regulations and it’s just pushing it further and further down the street? One mother I asked said she can’t wak because it’s 20 mins away (so she has to drive her volvox90 instead).

picture attached for reference.

rant overZ

Just to add the mum said her local primary isn’t an option because it’s not Catholic 🤦‍♀️ let alone being a fantastic outstanding primary.

What the heck have I missed to not kick off a parking thread debate?

You're right. Contact the council. We'll all sign a petition. 😀

Can’t you do a deal with a neighbour to buy visitor permits from them when you need them, rather than paying £400 for your own permit that is rarely used?

We live in a London CPZ and I’d happily do this for a neighbour.

As for the main complaint, why don’t you ask one of the wardens why they are not ticketing people for parking on the double yellow lines? It’s unusual for them to be so lenient.

So do the hours of your CPZ coincide with the school street hours?

You definitely should speak to the council about it.

Why are they not being ticketed?

Also, it’s illegal to sit idling your engine, so go and tell them.

We are in a similar situation but the traffic wardens are strict with them and it has improved things. Why aren't they ticketing?! The car idling drives me mad. It's always massive SUvs here too!

I actually sought out the usually eagle eyed parking wardens later today and they said they try to give them tickets and that the parents create all sort of hell and they tend to just back away.

the CPZ runs all days 8.00-11pm except for Sunday mornings, the school street which is further up is where they are not allowed to drive down hence the parking around the school has just shifted down to our section of the road.

i photographed a car there today and the owner came storming up behind me yelling that it’s rude and she’s not hurting anyone, and that she can always ask on a single yellow. Made me delete the photo. But I will be taking more photos and submitting them to the council (found out there is a reporting tool so a few daily reports should make the council get the wardens on the case).

and yes I fully intend to go and have a word with anyone idling outside our house, usually my husband does before me though !

we used to buy the day visitor vouchers but it ends up being cheaper to have a permanent pass we can use on any vehicle - we hire zip cars or longer hire cars semi regularly, have tradespeople over, occasionally visitors who drive so it’s good to just have the £400 annual permit.

Don’t delete them next time.
complain to the school as well.

the owner came storming up behind me yelling that it’s rude and she’s not hurting anyone, and that she can always ask on a single yellow.

What does the signage in your street say about parking on single yellows? Was she right or wrong? If she was wrong, did you tell her?

I’m surprised your parking wardens are so wet. People kick up a fuss and they back off? Surely they must be trained to deal with that sort of thing. Tell the Council what the warden said, perhaps they will train them better.

Contact the council, if they don't act pursue the next stage of their complaints policy, then the Local Government Ombudsman. Unfortunately there have just been local elections so no votes in it.