By Alex Crowe
Residents could be blocked from parking outside their own homes around Caulfield Grammar under proposed new rules, reigniting tensions between parents and locals over snarling traffic around the Glen Iris private school.
Previous efforts to ease pick-up and drop-off congestion appear to have failed after Stonnington council found many parents were flouting the rules, which inspectors have struggled to enforce. Police have even stepped in after a complaint was made about dangerous driving.
Michael Coates says the current restrictions could work if Caulfield Grammar played a role in compliance.Credit: Joe Armao
Now the council wants to try tighter parking restrictions on streets surrounding the school, changing resident permit zones on Harold, Willoby and Dorrington avenues to no-parking areas at drop-off and pick-up times.
Glen Iris resident Michael Coates said those who flout the rules make pick-up harder for other parents and impact traffic flow across the suburb.
“Half the parents are very entitled – they overstay the time, and they don’t care. It seems a little bit rough if we can’t use the street that we live on, but the parents can,” Coates said.
Officers deployed to observe compliance after parking restrictions were introduced last Easter recorded 71 instances of rule-breaking during one afternoon pick-up.
Police also raised concerns that motorists were illegally overtaking other drivers on Burke Road when traffic banked up waiting to enter nearby Sacre Coeur school.
Sacre Coeur changed its school hours to help ease congestion and some parking has been removed on Burke Road during peak periods. However, drivers’ speeds were found by the council to have slightly increased since the safety measures were introduced, and a survey asking whether parking had improved was met with a resounding “no”.
Coates said he had been happy with the arrangement but unhappy with Caulfield Grammar’s efforts to enforce compliance. He said if Caulfield employed a traffic warden, as nearby Korowa had, Glen Iris could avoid additional restrictions.
“It might make things better for the parents, but it’s going to make things worse for the residents,” he said.
Drivers would be banned from turning right from Burke Road into Dorrington Avenue and Wattletree Road into Harold Avenue under the suite of changes, which the council has promised will not be introduced without proper consultation.
Parents and students of Caulfield Grammar pictured last year when new parking restrictions on Willoby Avenue in Glen Iris were introduced.Credit: Eddie Jim
A Caulfield Grammar parent, who spoke outside the school with his children and gave his name as Jeff, said Stonnington Council should stand up to the locals who “exerted disproportionate influence”.
“You can quote me on this: I am really pissed off at these dickheads that live here who – when they bought in – knew the school was there and knew exactly what they were buying into,” he told The Age.
Parents, who spoke to The Age but asked not to be named, described the current situation as “pretty chaotic” and “shocking”.
Councillor Jami Klisaris, a Caulfield Grammar alumnus, said she had recently returned to the school to observe morning drop-off.
“It’s chaos, it really is,” she said. “There are people doing the right thing, but there are lots of people not doing the right thing as well. There are people parking all over the place.”
Speaking at Stonnington’s recent meeting, Klisaris said there was no perfect solution to the long-running parking problem.
“We won’t solve this,” she said. “What I’m looking for is to strike some sort of a balance where we are improving safety, but we’re not erroneously compromising on the ability of parents to drop their children off at these schools.”
A Stonnington council spokesman said the council understood that changes to local traffic and parking could be disruptive, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up times, but safety must come first.
“Council’s goal is to create safer streets for everyone, especially children walking to and from school,” he said.
“The proposed changes are designed to improve pedestrian safety, ease traffic congestion, and ensure residents can safely access their streets. These are high-traffic areas, during the school drop-off and pick-up times. Action is needed to reduce risk.”
He said there was a consultation proposal that the council was considering and they would be seeking input from the community to ensure long-term changes struck a balance between safety, access and liveability.
“We’ve discussed the issues with Caulfield Grammar and Sacré Cœur throughout this process, and we’ll continue to engage with them and local residents to explore workable, long-term solutions.”
A Caulfield Grammar School spokesman said the school was actively working with their families, neighbours and council partners to find long-term, constructive solutions to traffic and parking in a safe and respectful manner.
“The safety and wellbeing of our students remains our number-one priority,” he said.
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