Children from Ffaldau Primary School in Pontycymmer have a simple message for the drivers in the area – please don’t park on our zig zags!
PCSO Janine Ireland of Garw Valley Neighbourhood Policing team and the student school council at Ffaldau Primary on Ivor St have teamed up to launch Operation Zig Zag, a parking initiative to stop parents and other drivers parking on the zig zag lines outside the school gates.
The school are experiencing consistent problems with parents parking on the zig zag lines when dropping off their children or picking them up, causing danger to pupils and congestion on the narrow street.
The school have run the student council for the past five years, and recently the parking issue has been raised by members on a number of occasions. In response, the pupils worked with teachers and PCSO Janine Ireland to design a letter to give to parents warning them of the dangers of parking on the Keep Clear sign and zig zags. The letters will be distributed this week.
Learning Support Officers Rachel Turner and Alison Dent lead the student council, which includes 10 pupils from different classes of the school. A spokesperson for the council said: “It’s a concern for both the children and parents that people are parking on the zig zags before and after school. We have written to the Road Safety Partnership twice as the Keep Clear sign and zig zags are quite faded now so need repainting. We just want to politely remind parents that even though they are faded they are still there and it is not a safe parking area.”
PCSO Janine Ireland said: “Ffaldau Primary has invited me to attend the school council on a number of occasions, and I have seen how strongly the children feel about the parking problem. Safety of the children is paramount, so we will be specifically patrolling Ivor St to educate people on where to park as well as issuing tickets if need be.”