School parking ban: second trial for Kirkcaldy school this time with enforcement

Kirkcaldy Area Committee councillors unanimously decided this week to extend the temporary School Exclusion Zone (SEZ) around St Marie’s Primary School for to 18 months, with a commitment to increased enforcement support from the police and school staff.

It was one of three pilot projects launched in 2022 which prevented non-residential traffic from using the roads outside school entrances at set periods of the school day – typically during pick up and drop off times. The others were at Cardenden’s Denend Primary and Nursery School, and Glenrothes’ Pitcoudie Primary School.

One of the biggest issues centred around enforcement and compliance - and those grew over the project. Three months in and 35% of people felt there was low or very low compliance. After one year, that figure had jumped to 62%.

The initial trials ended earlier this year, and the results were up for analysis this week.

Councillor Julie MacDougall (Independent for Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy) said: “The pilot is interesting and productive, but I can understand the results haven't brought a huge amount back because the problem is bigger than what we’re trying to do.”

A report to councillors said with little enforcement by the police, some drivers “chose to ignore the restrictions with impunity” - and that led to a steady drop in compliance levels. Councillors were also told that because it’s a moving traffic offence, police are the only ones who can enforce the exclusion zone rules.

At the beginning of the trial, school staff stood at the entrance to encourage parents to adhere to the exclusion zone, but that was not sustainable - and Councillor Kathleen Leslie (Conservative) said it shouldn’t be up to staff to tackle the issue of compliance.

“At another school, the headteacher said they won't send staff out to monitor behaviour of drivers on the road because of the abuse they were getting. It’s not for our teaching staff or support staff to put themselves in that situation,” she said.

The committee unanimously decided the pilot needed more data before it could be made permanent.

Added Councillor Ian Cameron (Labour): “The school was very, very concerned about what was happening previously, and there were a number of near misses. We had the opportunity here to do an experimental exclusion zone, and I welcome the chance to take it forward to get more data. There’s an issue of compliance everywhere and that’s a bigger challenge. It’s something we need to address as an area to resolve.”