Fears Roebuck Road, Rochester will bear brunt of congestion if School Streets ‘traffic-free zone’ approved near King’s Pre-Preparatory School and Nursery

Residents are fuming over plans to create a traffic-free zone outside a school which they say will force parents to park on their already congested road.

Medway Council is considering banning cars during peak times next to the King’s Pre-Preparatory School and Nursery in Rochester as part of its ‘School Streets road’ safety drive.

While most are in favour of the initiative in principle, they fear drivers will drop off and pick up in Roebuck Road where they live which is the nearest to the school.

They say the issue is further compounded by Roebuck being sandwiched between the nursery in Lockington Grove and St Andrew’s, another private school in neighbouring Watts Avenue.

Concern is mounting as they are both fee-paying establishments that tend to attract pupils from further afield, rather than the catchment area of state schools, and so more cars in neighbouring streets could soon become a feature.

They have vented their views as part of a consultation process which ends this Sunday (October 27).

As part of their objection, they have also written to ward councillors, including Alex Paterson, portfolio holder for community safety, highways and enforcement.

Cllr Paterson has encouraged people to engage in the consultation, insisting “nothing is set in stone”.

He said: “It’s usually quite straightforward which roads to close, but this is trickier because there are two schools impacted.

“I would remind everyone this is the starting point for discussion.”

The proposal would be to close the roads between 8am and 9am, and 3pm and 4pm from Monday to Friday.

Student Oli Branch, who lives in Roebuck, is among those who have written to the council highlighting the existing situation which includes a “high frequency of collisions and difficulty parking outside our own homes”. The majority of which rely on om street parking”.

He added: “As any local resident will have observed, the situation in many of the surrounding streets is reason to suspect that Roebuck Road will be expected to deal with the brunt of the original congestion.”

For many years parents ferrying their children to and from the school have been accused of “illegal and inconsiderate parking” in the neighbourhood.

In the past, the school runs caused gridlock with some vehicles stopping on double yellow lines, blocking driveways and on pavements making it impossible for pedestrians to pass.

But a crackdown by school staff on their behaviour has worked with cones being put directly outside the entrance to both the prep and main school preventing motorists from stopping.

Posters have also been plastered outside with the message Think Smart, Park Safe and pupils have taken part in a drawing competition in a bid to urge their parents to be more considerate.

Feedback is invited on the council's website here.

READ MORE: Medway Council eyes expansion of School Streets ‘traffic-free zone’ scheme to nine more schools

Medway Council launched the initiative in March on streets around seven schools and is now asking residents for their take on the scheme being implemented at a further nine.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras are in operation on the existing roads and serve fines to motorists who enter the road during the hours of operation - which are around the start and end of the school day.

The programme aims to make it safer for children and their guardians to get to and from school by reducing the amount of traffic passing on the roads.

The schools which the council is asking locals about expanding the scheme to are:

- Crest Infant & Nursery School, Delce Academy, St William of Perth Catholic Primary School, and The King’s Pre & Preparatory in Rochester and Hilltop Primary School in Frindsbury

- Cliffe Woods Primary School and Leigh Academy High Halstow Primary Academy on the Hoo Peninsula

- St Margaret’s Infant School, St Margaret’s Church of England Junior School, and Fairview Community Primary in Rainham.

- Horsted Primary in Chatham will also be included, and the council is working with New Horizons Children’s Academy and Holcombe Grammar School on an additional School Street proposal which will also go to public consultation at a later date

The school streets programme has been in place for more than six months at seven schools.