Plea to ease parking woe

The school opened with 460 students in February last year after Mr Templeman lobbied for a school to be built in Mandurah’s booming northern suburbs. It caters for Meadow Springs and Lakelands.

‘But the growth in student numbers is unprecedented,” he said.

‘By the end of last year there were more than 700 students and there are now more than 860 students, with new students arriving every week.’

Meadow Springs Primary School is bounded by just two main roads, Oakmont Avenue and Bellerive Pass.

‘The roads are choked every morning and afternoon, with parents trying to park and drop off their children and because of the huge growth, some available parking has been allocated to the big increase in staff numbers,’ Mr Templeman said.

‘It has become quite chaotic, with cars parked on verges, the edge of reserve land and in front of neighbouring homes.

‘Cars are banking up at peak times on feeder roads, and I am concerned about the safety of kids and parents.’

Mr Templeman said traffic wardens were badly needed but had not yet been supplied.

He said he had taken the unprecedented step of writing directly to the Police Commissioner asking for crossing wardens to be made a priority and was awaiting a response.

‘But we can’t wait any longer with a possible 1000 students by the middle of this year,” he said.

He has contacted the City of Mandurah, the police commissioner, the officer-in-charge of Mandurah police and the Education Department requesting a meeting with the school principal and P and C president to take immediate action and long term plans to alleviate the problem.

Mr Templeman said the new school planned for Lakelands in 2015 would not help the congestion problem.

Traffic problems at Meadow Springs Primary School have been ongoing since the school opened in 2012.

In an article published in February last year, principal Ashley King said the school started earlier and finished later to ease traffic congestion.

But extra parking put in place last year did little to ease the problem.

‘We have had meetings with city rangers and Main Roads to try and find solutions,” he said.