The French School (Kentish Town) – Proposed Parking Changes

Overview

Camden Council would like to improve safety for children crossing Willes Road on their way to and from The French School and other nearby schools. Council officers have visited the location along with Ward Members, the Inkerman Road Residents’ Association, and with the school’s representatives to come up with a solution to the problems that pupils and pedestrians encounter when trying to cross this road. Officers have observed parents as well as the school buses used by The French School parking on the single yellow line on Willes Road, outside the public house.

This restricts visibility for pedestrians wanting to cross Willes Road at the junction with Holmes Road, and results in pedestrians having to step out into the road to see approaching vehicles.

We are also aware that the school uses both minibuses and larger coaches to drop off/pick up school children at the beginning and end of the school day as well as transporting them for extracurricular activities. In order to allow the school buses to park in a safe place away from street corners, we undertook a survey to find out how many residents’ parking bays are occupied during the day. This survey did indicate that a number of these parking spaces were not occupied during the day hence there is room to convert a number of these to provide parking for buses within the controlled hours.

We are proposing changes which should meet the needs of the school in terms of pupil safety and a safe place to park their school buses without taking away parking that is currently being used by residents to park in. There will be an overall loss of 7 residents’ parking spaces as a result of these proposals; however residents will be able to park in these spaces after 6.30pm and before 8.30am.