Violence and abuse reach danger level outside school

Date published: 03 March 2015


IRRESPONSIBLE parents and unruly pupils are making life hell for desperate residents living near Chadderton’s Radclyffe School

One family last week witnessed serious fighting outside the gates of the school in Hunt Lane, caught in the hometime traffic chaos caused by illegally-parked parents.

The resident, from nearby North Dene Park says the situation has been miserable for five years but believes the violence, road safety and abuse from parents has now escalated to a dangerous level.

Not only do parents park illegally, they also dump their cars across and in some cases even in household driveways.

When residents approach parents they are subjected to “despicable” abuse. A recent altercation between a Hunt Lane resident and a parent who refused to move his car from their driveway resulted in his arrest by police.

A meeting between Hunt Lane and District Residents’ Association, councillors and the school in 2011 led to no improvement and the problem has since become much worse. Only Oldham council’s traffic camera car ease problems temporarily

“We are absolutely desperate for something to be done but we feel so let down by the school, the police and the council,” the resident said. “No-one listens, no-one wants to know, we are just left to suffer.

“If you’d seen what we witnessed the other day with the fighting... I was really worried this lad had suffered a serious injury to his head. Our young children were in the car and saw everything. It was really upsetting.

“This type of behaviour is condemned and acted on outside a nightclub on a Friday night so why is it tolerated outside a school? The school has a large car park within its grounds with a drop-off area, which few parents seem to use.”

A spokesman for the school said the fighting issue has since been dealt with by staff: “As a school we want to maintain good relations with all our neighbours. We regularly appeal to parents and carers that if they must park on Hunt Lane, to park considerately, or to meet their children further away from the school. We have included this in the school newsletter and will reinforce it in future editions.

“We welcome enforcement action from Oldham Council where vehicles are parked illegally or with little consideration to our neighbours.”

Councillor Dave Hibbert, Cabinet member for housing, planning and transport, said the drivers collecting students from the school had to start taking responsibility.

“We have tried a number of ways to tackle the issue. The school safety car has been there on seven occasions since September and 14 fixed-penalty notices have been issued.

“Inconsiderate parking outside schools is a national issue. We are doing as much as we can to address the problem here in Oldham.”