Residents of a quiet Kangaroo Flat cul-de-sac say they have had enough of their street being used as a makeshift pick-up zone for a neighbouring primary school.
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Since Kangaroo Flat Primary School was rebuilt, a rear entrance backing onto Freeman Drive and Klim Court has been used by parents waiting to pick up their kids from school.
At least 20 cars prop on the nature strips of the quiet, narrow residential street between 2.30 and 3pm. There is no car parking.
Nick Burnside was one of several local residents seeing red over the traffic jam.
“There’s people parking across driveways and blocking access to the street,” he said.
“I have been talking to school and council for the past 12 months but nothing seems to be getting done about.”
School principal Heather Odgers said she had been made aware of residents’ concerns.
“We are working proactively with our community and the City of Greater Bendigo,” she said.
“The entrance to the school has always been an entrance, it has not been recently opened. “Schools are always busy places at pick up and drop off times, our school is fortunate to have a number of entry and exit points to reduce congestion.”
After the Bendigo Advertiser raised residents’ concerns with the City of Greater Bendigo yesterday, parking inspectors where seen patrolling the area in the afternoon.
A council officer said the inspectors had visited last week after a complaint was made and were following up their initial visit.
“We have a number of schools to attend to so we went to check out what is going on,” the officer said.
He said inspectors had issued a number of warnings and asked drivers politely to move off the nature strips.
“We are seeking people’s co-operation not to block driveways or park on nature strips,” he said.
The officer admitted there was a problem because the street was so narrow that if parents parked on the road they would block the street.
“It’s difficult in those smaller streets, they probably aren’t built for this kind of traffic,” he said.
“You just have to strike a balance.”