Parents rally to dispute “ridiculous” school drop-off fines

Parents from two Ipswich private schools are receiving shock fines at school drop-offs after cameras were installed to ease congestion. SEE THE VIDEO

Parents from St Edmund’s and St Mary’s College in Ipswich are rallying together to dispute parking fines issued during school drop off and pick up times.

The area is home to four major schools and both St Edmund’s and St Mary’s share a drop-off zones on Mary Street, Woodend.

Ipswich City Council installed cameras in the area at the start of term two this year as part of their School Safe Parking Program to help regulate congestion in the area.

Rule four of the program states that Passenger Loading Zones allow you to stop for up to two minutes to pick up or drop off a passenger.

Stopping or parking in the zone for longer than two minutes will incur a $137 fine.

According to some parents, the congestion actually inhibits their ability to efficiently or safely drop their children off in the legal drop-off zone within that allotted time.

“Many parents are being issued ridiculous fines with no letter or correspondence to say what the commuters dropping their kids off can and cannot do,” said concerned mother, Chandese Watts.

Ms Watts said the main issue with the drop-off zone at St Edmund’s College wa its proximity to the cul-de-sac – which is the only place to turn around on Mary Street.

“The cul-de-sac is not wide enough to facilitate the amount of congestion,” she said.

“I don’t believe fining numerous and multiple parents for 30 seconds while trying to use the cul-de-sac is going to fix the congestion issue, and will possibly just cause more frustration to the already busy and congested school drop off times.”

Parent Brendan Minz received a fine earlier this week for an alleged infringement dated April 29, when he said a car turning at the cul-de-sac was blocking his way.

“You can’t actually get around the cul-de-sac because it’s too tight to actually pull out and go around down to the front of the drop off zone,” he said

“Any sort of mid to large size vehicle, when you do a turn around the cul-de-sac, you have to be right in the gutter.”

During the heavily congested drop-off and pick-up hours, Mr Minz said that cars waiting to move forward into the drop-off zone are often stuck in a section of a road where they are technically liable for a fine.

“Generally, you have to wait for a reasonable size section in the drop-off zone to clear before the next four, five, six, seven cars can actually move forward,” he said.

“In all honesty, when you’re sitting in that cul-de-sac and you can’t move – with sensible teenagers, you say ‘just jump out here’.”

“People are doing that in the interest of ensuring that we try and get the traffic flowing through as fast as possible.”

Mr Minz said he has submitted a dispute to the council but is sceptical about whether it will be properly considered, as he’s heard other parents accounts of having difficulties.

Another concerned parent said she received a $137 fine earlier this week, which she is currently in the process of disputing.

She worked for eight years in the past at Children’s Health Queensland as the properties facilities and leasing manager, and her responsibilities included overseeing their carparking precinct near St Laurence’s and Somerville house.

“We often engaged in joint strategies towards the council or strategies that would help appease families and traffic in the area … At St Laurence’s they looked at staggering drop offs.”

She said she is looking towards the Ipswich City Council and the schools to similarly investigate alternative strategies to handle the congestion.

“They’re not moving the infrastructure forward to support the increase in enrolments,” she explained.

“I’m not against cameras being in the area, if they’re for safety purposes; this actually contradicts health and safety … Council is forcing parents to put themselves in a situation where they have to choose between safety versus a fine,” she said.

“I strongly believe [the council] is compromising risk and safety for what appears to be revenue raising. I’m sure that’s not the direct intention … It’s certainly how it appears.”

She said she had spoken with the staff at St Edmund’s College, who told her “they were well aware of the issues that families are facing and staff are also facing the same issue, and that they were looking at [a strategy] but that it could take several months to formulate that.”

Mr Minz said he “would like to think the school’s going to jump on board and try to do something about it, but it’s a challenging area” - as there is ongoing construction.

Media representative for St Mary’s College Michael Crutcher said, “St Mary’s College has worked proactively on safety for our students and families in Mary Street. The College has a traffic management plan to assist with the busy school drop-off and collection times.

“The College is also working with Ipswich City Council during this term of school to understand more about the traffic flows. That work can help determine the best steps for safety in Mary Street.”

The cul-de-sac outside St Edmund's College on Mary Street, Woodend.

According to Amber, a resident in area, this issue has had a significant impact on those living close to the school also.

She said she sometimes receives “abuse” from parents when she attempts to back out of her driveway close to the school, and that parents often block her driveway or even stop there to drop their children off.

Ms Watts said parents did sometimes stop at driveways because “there’s nowhere else to safely stop and drop off kids.”

“I understand that residents don’t want their driveways blocked by busy traffic but this is also the way traffic will always flow when you live on these streets that have thousands of students each day attending the schools,” she said.

“We are sick of being told that we should’ve thought about the traffic before we moved here,” said Amber.

“[The schools] constantly tell us that we need to take photos and contact council, which has been done.”

A representative of the Ipswich City Council said the cameras were initially installed “after collaboration with the community and consultation with the schools as a result of complaints received regarding poor driver behaviour and parking in and around schools.”

“The [School Safe Parking Program] is designed to bring about positive behavioural change and lead to improved safety outcomes for all road users. If a driver believes they have incorrectly received a fine they can have the matter reviewed by council.

“To ask council to review the fine, the driver must submit a written request to council within 28 days of the issue date of the infringement notice. Alternatively, the driver may elect to have the matter dealt with by the Magistrates Court.”

Ms Watts said parents were increasingly discussing the issue amongst themselves and investigating alternative avenues to ease congestion issues.

One parent said there been similar issues at other schools in Ipswich such as Immaculate Heart Catholic Primary School in One Mile, where they said parents are receiving fines for exceeding the two minute maximum in the drop-off zone despite congestion making it impossible to exit safely.

As more and more parents receive fines, Ms Watts ultimately insisted, “Council need to work with the community and find a better solution.”