Parents ‘absolutely livid’ after parking outside Glen Iris school restricted

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Parents ‘absolutely livid’ after parking outside Glen Iris school restricted

By Cara Waters

Parents of students at private school Caulfield Grammar are up in arms over changes to parking restrictions that mean they cannot park outside the junior campus to drop off and pick up their children.

Caulfield Grammar’s Malvern campus houses its junior school and is surrounded by residential roads on three sides, close to Korowa and Sacre Coeur girls’ schools.

New parking restrictions on Willoby Avenue in Glen Iris have angered Caulfield Grammar parents.

New parking restrictions on Willoby Avenue in Glen Iris have angered Caulfield Grammar parents.Credit: Eddie Jim

Areas that were two-hour parking zones on Harold, Willoby and Dorrington avenues in Glen Iris were changed by Stonnington Council over the Easter school holidays to require a permit to park during school drop-off times.

Caulfield Grammar parent Sally Crinis said she was “absolutely livid” at the changes and had never been more angered by a council’s stupidity.

“Stonnington council has banned stopping around our school,” the influencer and events director posted on Instagram. “We now are forced to park streets away and walk our kids to school.”

Crinis said this put a huge amount of pressure on families trying to get their children to and from school, caused “gridlock” in neighbouring streets, and exposed children to greater risks by forcing them to cross busy roads.

However, traffic appeared to have eased around the area on Wednesday morning.

“Stonnington and these neighbours of our school who support this should be ashamed,” Crinis said. “The school has been there over 100 years. These home owners knew they were buying in a school street.”

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Mother of three Suzy Eskander said it should not be a 45-minute process for parents to drop off or pick up their children.

“Busy parents, working parents, elderly grandparents who are trying to help families now have to try get parks blocks and blocks away,” she said, describing the risk posed by “countless driveways and three busy roads” as “unacceptable”.

Parents of Caulfield Grammar students drop off their kids on Wednesday morning.

Parents of Caulfield Grammar students drop off their kids on Wednesday morning.Credit: Eddie Jim/The Age

“Do we have to wait for a child to be injured crossing the road to get the council’s attention?”

A spokeswoman for the City of Stonnington said the parking changes were being trialled and monitored for six months.

“Changing the restrictions is intended to alleviate the parking impacts and provide gaps along the street to ease the congestion issues that occur during peak school times,” she said.

“Council engaged and consulted with all three schools in the area, including Caulfield Grammar, Sacre Coeur and Korowa. Engagement was also undertaken with residents, including a resident workshop, ahead of the changes.”

Council minutes note that Korowa did not provide comments and that Sacre Coeur did not engage with council on the parking issue, as the school’s major concern was traffic on Burke Road.

Sacre Coeur warned parents of the parking changes in an email from the deputy principal at the start of term 2.

The rules were changed on residential streets opposite the school with increased traffic and parking issues at peak drop-off and pick-up times.

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The council spokeswoman said the feedback from residents was that permit-zone restrictions during pick-up and drop-off were preferred to reduce the excessive demand on local streets.

Caulfield Grammar’s preference was for a one-way flow system, but council said this would be more restrictive for residents.

“Stonnington recognises concerns raised by the parents at Caulfield Grammer and engagement is continuing with the school to address parking concerns,” she said.

“Council also encourages Caulfield Grammar to consider offering pick-up and drop-off points within their school site, similar to nearby schools, instead of relying solely on pick-ups and drop-offs in the residential street.”

The spokeswoman said there was a supervised school crossing on Wattletree Road that could be used by students and parents, and the signalised intersection at Wattletree Road and Burke Road was also supervised at the beginning and end of the school day for children walking to and from school.

Caulfield Grammar principal Ashleigh Martin said the school had expressed its concerns and disappointment about the new parking rules around its Malvern campus to the council.

“With student, staff and community safety paramount, we are worried about the risks associated with the new traffic and pedestrian flow, which will likely result in more young children crossing busy roads at peak times,” he said.

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”We … reiterate our request to explore previously tabled alternate traffic management solutions as soon as possible to deliver a smoother traffic experience that meets the needs of both local residents along with our families being able to safely and efficiently drop off and pick up their children from school.“

According to data collected in July last year, private schools in the eastern suburbs had some of the most congested drop-off and pick-up zones in Melbourne.

Simone Reilly, head of Caulfield Grammar’s Malvern campus, said in September the school community had been lobbying Stonnington council for solutions to the traffic congestion.

She said traffic pressure eased after bus routes on Harold, Willoby and Dorrington avenues were deviated at the school’s request.

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