Furious parents slam council for putting up 2ft 6ins ‘eyesore’ bollards overnight to stop them ‘driving on the pavement to drop off children’ – after just one person complained
Anti-school run bollards which have outraged residents have now been blasted by the parents of the kids they are supposed to protect.
Villagers living on Abbey Grove in Well Lane, Willerby, near Hull, East Yorkshire, woke up last month to find health and safety bosses had cemented rows of wooden posts into the pavement.
Council chiefs sent the workmen without warning after reports that traffic congestion during the school drop off was leading to parking on the unusually wide pavement in front of the houses.
There were also claims that people were actually driving along the pavement, leading to fears of a child being injured.
Today parents showed up in the area in two waves during the afternoon – first to collect pupils of the Wofreton School and Sixth Form College further along Well Lane.
Irate parents complained the only reason they had parked on Abbey Grove in the first place was because of all the parking cones around the secondary school entrance.
Villagers living on Abbey Grove in Well Lane, Willerby, near Hull , East Yorkshire, woke up last month to find health and safety bosses had cemented rows of wooden posts into the pavement (pictured is forklift driver Karl Elbeck)
Mother Jackie Everson, 46, pictured with her dog Dolly, stormed: ‘They look absolutely terrible – just awful.’
Council workmen arrived without warning a fortnight ago to install the wooden posts in front of most of the houses on the street, which includes a secondary school entrance
Irate parents complained the only reason they had parked on Abbey Grove in the first place was because of all the parking cones around the secondary school entrance (pictured)
One mother said: ‘The cones have just moved the problem further along Well Lane in front of Abbey Grove. If they got rid of the cones, or just reduced them, they would not have had to stuck these hideous posts in.
‘The thing is even when parents are picking up from Wolfreton the rush only lasts about 15 minutes. Then the street is dead again. There is no need for permanent traffic bollards.’
Less than half an hour after the secondary school run, parents began showing up to pick up pupils from the Willerby Carr Lane Primary School.
The primary school is actually a couple of streets behind Well Lane but some parents park in Abbey Grove to meet children coming through the snicket that is used as a short cut.
The parents were all astonished to see the 2ft 6ins bollards in place but were divided on how useful they were with the majority condemning them as a waste of council tax payers’ money.
Jodie Marshall, 37, collecting her nine-year-old daughter Lorna, said: ‘They do look a bit of an eyesore. I think they look awful and have made a right mess of the path.
‘I have heard all this was due to just one parent complaining about someone driving on the pavement on Abbey Grove. There was no need for all this any way.
Anti-school run bollards which have outraged residents have now been blasted by the parents of the kids they are supposed to protect (pictured parent Jodie Marshall, 37)
Pictured is Wofreton School and Sixth Form College further in Well Lane
Abbey Grove in Well Lane, Willerby, a suburb of Hull , East Yorkshire, has an unusually wide pavement, wider than a car. The 2ft 6in tall bollards run all along it (pictured is an aerial of the street)
Robert Cowie pictured in Willerby near Hull next to wooden bollards that have caused issues when the school run happens
‘Me and Lorna know if there is car near because you can hear them. It is not complicated. So to do all this in response is crazy.
‘There are other streets closer to the school were cars drive on the pavement all the time so there was no reason to put these bollards here.’
Grandfather Ron Biggs, 81, was one of the crowds who had left their cars at home to collect children. He said: ‘There is nowhere to park around here so most people come on foot anyway.
‘It is easier that way. So I was quite surprised to see what the council have done. Perhaps greater minds than mine have applied themselves to the problem but it strikes me as a waste of money.’
Another mother Jackie Everson, 46, pictured with her dog Dolly, stormed: ‘They look absolutely terrible – just awful. They ruin the whole look of the street. I have driven here today but I normally walk here.
‘It is an absolutely ridiculous tin-pot council idea.’
Father Richard Munkley, pictured with son Logan, said: ‘I am just glad they do not directly affect me because I don’t live here.
‘I can kind of see the logic about trying to keep the kids safe. I can see what the council are trying to do. But the people who do live here must be up in arms about the way they have done it.’
Father Richard Munkley, pictured with son Logan, said: ‘I am just glad they do not directly affect me because I don’t live here.’
Ron Biggs pictured in Willerby near Hull next to wooden bollards that have caused issues when the school run happen
Another parent Rob Cowie said: ‘I don’t know why they have done it because there is nowhere to park down here anyway.
‘What we really need is more parking near the school for those who really need it. He was there to pick up his two grandchildren.
He added: ‘I only bring the car because both their parents are working, I am 69 and they are too young to walk home on their own.’
Meanwhile resident Karl Elbeck, 48, a retired fork lift truck driver, said feelings were still running high among householders penned in by the rows of new bollards.
He said: ‘It is just a waste of money. They could have done so much better. I don’t know why they are so concerned about safety when there hasn’t been a road accident down here since 1972.
‘What about access for my father in law who is disabled? What about the other disabled drivers and disabled people who need to park? It is mind-boggling what the council has done.’
Irate parents complained the only reason they had parked on Abbey Grove in the first place was because of all the parking cones around the secondary school entrance.
An aerial view of the street shows the bollards dotted along the pathway in Willerby
Furious villagers have been left outraged after lines of ‘eye sore’ thigh-high wooden bollards were cemented into the pavement outside their homes.
Speaking to MailOnline previously, local Bob North branded them ‘bloody awful’ as he claimed they had made the route more unsafe than ever.
He raged: ‘To me, it is more unsafe down here now than before they did them. The reason is cars park on here and with all the hedges they are backing out blind.
‘If someone is in a rush one morning to get to work and kids are running up and down it is an accident waiting to happen if they back out quick.
‘There was not many cars parked down here anyway – only about four of five. At least they could see in the mirrors before they set off rather than backing out blind.
‘They have in a fortnight. It is a mess. It looks bloody awful – and a waste of money. Why did not just put a post at one end and a post at the other with some no parking signs.
‘It would have been a lot cheaper with all these councils going bankrupt. They should have spent the money fixing potholes. They have just made it more dangerous.’
Furious Bob North raged the bollards had now made the pathway more unsafe. He is pictured with his wife Janet
The pavement runs in a dip between the front gardens of the houses and the road, which is up a steep grassy bank
Nodding in agreement, wife Janet North added: ‘The problem is a lot of people have had driveways put in. We have not bothered. We have parked on the road for 40 years.
‘We have already seen a lad leapfrogging over them. It will also be difficult now for ambulances to get down to certain houses – and a hard job to get patients up the slope.’
Lesley Ward, a few doors down, said: ‘They are an absolute eyesore. There was no need for them and they have made a real mess of the hedges putting them in.
‘But what can we do? It is already done and I don’t think they will remove them now. It looks like a rush job.
‘We would have preferred as residents for them to spend the money resurfacing the road. They say they have fixed it but they have just patched it up and put these eyesores here.
‘All they had to do was put bollards at either end of the pavement or at least space the posts out better so they are no obstructing people getting in and out of their driveways.’
Willerby resident Lesley Ward with dog Frankie who have spoken to the Mail Online about how the council have installed unsightly bollard outside his home
Lesley branded the bollards an ‘absolute eyesore’ saying there was ‘no need’ to install them
An aerial view of the street shows the bollards dotted along the pathway in Willerby
East Riding of Yorkshire Council said: ‘Following complaints we received from parents taking children to the school on Well Lane that people were driving along the footpath between Ashgate Road and Bellfield Drive, the council has installed wooden bollards in the path to ensure the safety of pedestrians.
‘Local residents were informed of the move by letter in advance and, as they are private houses, they were offered the chance to pay to have vehicle access installed to their homes to help them park their cars. Several residents took up the offer.
‘At the same time, the council carried out some path improvements to the path, grassed verge repairs and installed some drainage to improve the path surface.
‘The work was inspected this week, was carried out to a high standard and has improved the path considerably.
‘These bollards have been installed to protect pedestrians, it is illegal for people to drive along the path.
‘Residents can apply for vehicle access. Anyone with a mobility aid can still travel along the path to their homes unhindered by the installation of the bollards.’
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