BRAYWICK COURT SCHOOL PLANNING APPLICATION INCLUDES PROPOSAL FOR SINGLE/DOUBLE YELLOW LINES ON HIBBERT ROAD

BRAYWICK COURT SCHOOL PLANNING APPLICATION INCLUDES PROPOSAL FOR SINGLE/DOUBLE YELLOW LINES ON HIBBERT ROAD Hidden away in the pages of the new planning application are proposals to introduce parking restrictions (i.e. single or even double yellow lines) along Hibbert Road, from The Causeway all the way until the junction with A308/Braywick Road. None of this was mentioned in the School's 'Public Exhibition' in January, or is mentioned in any of the promotional material about the application. It has effectively been hidden. The School's Transport Assessment in para 4.10 (see photos attached) says this is 'an additional safeguard against parent/carer parking' that 'is a suggestion made by residents'. We are interested to see (and have requested) any documents where residents would suggest this - as many of us from the area need to park our cars on Hibbert Road (and always have done, long before Braywick Court School ever existed.) If Braywick Court School's Travel Plan & 'Home School Agreement' is as 'robust' as claimed, then all parents/carers will use the 'Park & Stride' car park by Braywick Sports Ground. That is the key promise which the Travel Plan hinges on, and the School's only, (and unenforceable) answer to residents' concerns about all the extra traffic, access & parking problems a school of this size, on this site will create. Concerns which were shared by the Highway Development Control when they recommended the previous application be refused permission, which led to its withdrawal. So which one is it? Will all parents access the school & park where the school promises they will, forever, or will they want to to park on Hibbert Road? Sounds like the School admitting its travel plan is completely unenforceable. Which is what we've always said. Will there be similar restrictions in the Nature Reserve Car Park? No, there can't be, and there is no way of legally preventing parents from dropping off their children there. So why restrictions on Hibbert Road - which only really affect residents? Is this a cheap attempt at 'payback' against residents that have complained about the previous planning application? Did they expect anyone to even notice? Why wasn't this part of the proposal made clear at the exhibition? What else is hidden in the pages of the new application? Maybe this is just a set-up gambit so that RBWM can remove the idea of these particular restrictions as a 'concessionary' condition when the application goes to panel so they can be seen to have supposedly listened to residents' concerns?

Parking Restrictions introduced & 8 parking bays now 'permit holders only'

Despite the School only opening with one class of (at most 28) pupils, RBWM has already blocked off 8 parking spaces in the PUBLIC CAR PARK AND introduced a new 3 hour maximum parking restriction. 

Again, there's been no proper public consultation, they just went ahead and did it. The park is one of the main places to park for walkers wanting to use the 'Green Way' - they now have to make sure they're back within 3 hours or they'll get a ticket. 

If you can manage the whole Green Way loop (5-10km) on foot in under 3 hours please let us know!

And if you want to spend more than 3 hours enjoying Braywick Park & you drive here, well - that's just too bad...

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More Parking Concerns

Where will the teachers and other staff park their cars? When the school reaches full size there will be 7 class teachers, along with their teaching assistants plus office staff and catering staff. 

How many cars will this be? We have been told by Simon Ward from Bellevue Educational Trust that there would be 'around 30' members of staff.

Are the teachers going to walk 1/3 mile from the overflow car park by the Rifle Club/Maidenhead Target Shooting Club with all the materials they carry to and from school EVERY DAY? 

The council have already introduced parking restrictions and made 8 spaces 'permit holder only' - before the school has even opened, and when it does in the first year there will only be 28 pupils. 

Is the Borough allowed to simply give this public space to the private use of a free school? Where will everyone else park?

What about deliveries to the school? There will be regular deliveries of supplies for the kitchen as well as all the other materials of books, equipment and supplies. Where will the lorries park & access the site? The public car park?

Where will the waste collection vehicles park to collect the waste? In the road on the dangerous blind bend on Hibbert Road?

When plans were drawn for the new Oldfield School in Bray Road, adequate parking space for all of these requirements was an essential component of the planning application. 

Why should it be acceptable for the plans for Braywick Court School to go ahead without adequate parking provision or, indeed, with the parking provision for this to be taken away from a public amenity car park, which was provided for the use of local residents, and users of Braywick Park?

When planning permission was granted for the new Oldfield School on Bray Road it was only after long deliberation and much scrutiny of the potential traffic and parking issues. 

The planned Braywick Court School will eventually cater for 210 children and their families.  When it was Winbury School this number was at most 90. 

RBWM Council & Bellevue Place Educational trust (who will run the new School) want to take over the existing Nature Centre building in Braywick Park, and build a new building on the park itself - plus a large 2 storey development on the existing school site.

Most of the new school development is on land designated as public open space

Will there be serious consideration of the potential parking and traffic problems, not just on a day-to-day basis but for big school events, sports days, parents' evenings etc?

Even if 7 or 8 parking bays end up reserved for staff, what's to stop other staff members occupying public parking bays all day long? Or parking on Hibbert Road all day long to avoid getting a ticket instead?

Will RBWM have to introduce parking restrictions on Hibbert Road to deal with that? What about residents that need to park outside their houses on Hibbert Road?


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Why the 'Walking Bus' plan will not work. Is it just a PR smokescreen to placate locals' concerns over parking & traffic?

The Headteacher of the school has stated that parents will not be using the car park beside the school. This may be her intention, but she cannot make this commitment on behalf of the parents. She cannot enforce this. Some parents will ignore this and as the school grows in size this will inevitably lead to parking problems.  

As we all know, the car park was not adequate when Winbury was in operation with far fewer children. Hibbert Road and Gas Lane are completely unsuitable for roadside parking for the parents. 

The intended "walking bus" or "park & stride scheme" from the Rifle Club/Maidenhead Target Shooting Club car park depends on a lot of parental co-operation and some organisation provided by the school. In bad weather some parents will not be happy for their children to walk from the Rifle Club car park and will want to drop them at the car park near the school. 

This scheme is something that the Head is intending but she cannot force the parents to comply. Even if the scheme appears to work well at the beginning when the school is still very small, it will be much more difficult to enforce once the school grows to full size.

Is this 'walking bus' scheme just a PR smokescreen to placate locals' concerns over the parking & traffic problems, so that they can push through planning permission?

It should also be noted that the road leading to the Rifle Club Car Park is only single track, with no space for traffic passing in both directions. Surely this will end up gridlock with the parents of 210 pupils trying to access it at drop off & pick up times? Have the council considered this? Will they have to build a wider new road, taking up space on the Braywick Sports Fields? (There's a rugby pitch right where they would have to do that so good luck..).

The car park adjacent to the Nature Centre is a public car park and should be available for use by other local residents who walk in the park or visit the Nature Centre. If the school encroaches on this car park it will be reducing the ability of local residents to use a local public amenity, and if they are forced to park on Hibbert Road this would be unsafe.

When construction of the enlarged school begins, presumably all the construction traffic for the work will have to use the public car park. This again is extremely disruptive. It will cause noise and disturbance to neighbouring residents and will also take up space in the public car park.

Remember, when the site was Winbury School there were only at most 90 pupils - Braywick Court School has been 'rubber stamped' to eventually have 210. That's almost 2 and a half times as many children. They intend to take over the existing Nature Centre building, build a large 2 storey development on the site, not in keeping with current architecture, on PUBLIC OPEN SPACE AND build a big brand new building RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF BRAYWICK PARK.

Not cool.


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