Coates said he had been happy with the arrangement but unhappy with Caulfield Grammar’s efforts to enforce compliance. He said if Caulfield employed a traffic warden, as nearby Korowa had, Glen Iris could avoid additional restrictions.
“It might make things better for the parents, but it’s going to make things worse for the residents,” he said.
Drivers would be banned from turning right from Burke Road into Dorrington Avenue and Wattletree Road into Harold Avenue under the suite of changes, which the council has promised will not be introduced without proper consultation.
Parents and students of Caulfield Grammar pictured last year when new parking restrictions on Willoby Avenue in Glen Iris were introduced.Credit: Eddie Jim
A Caulfield Grammar parent, who spoke outside the school with his children and gave his name as Jeff, said Stonnington Council should stand up to the locals who “exerted disproportionate influence”.
“You can quote me on this: I am really pissed off at these dickheads that live here who – when they bought in – knew the school was there and knew exactly what they were buying into,” he told The Age.
Parents, who spoke to The Age but asked not to be named, described the current situation as “pretty chaotic” and “shocking”.
Councillor Jami Klisaris, a Caulfield Grammar alumnus, said she had recently returned to the school to observe morning drop-off.
“It’s chaos, it really is,” she said. “There are people doing the right thing, but there are lots of people not doing the right thing as well. There are people parking all over the place.”
Speaking at Stonnington’s recent meeting, Klisaris said there was no perfect solution to the long-running parking problem.
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“We won’t solve this,” she said. “What I’m looking for is to strike some sort of a balance where we are improving safety, but we’re not erroneously compromising on the ability of parents to drop their children off at these schools.”
A Stonnington council spokesman said the council understood that changes to local traffic and parking could be disruptive, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up times, but safety must come first.
“Council’s goal is to create safer streets for everyone, especially children walking to and from school,” he said.
“The proposed changes are designed to improve pedestrian safety, ease traffic congestion, and ensure residents can safely access their streets. These are high-traffic areas, during the school drop-off and pick-up times. Action is needed to reduce risk.”
He said there was a consultation proposal that the council was considering and they would be seeking input from the community to ensure long-term changes struck a balance between safety, access and liveability.
“We’ve discussed the issues with Caulfield Grammar and Sacré Cœur throughout this process, and we’ll continue to engage with them and local residents to explore workable, long-term solutions.”
A Caulfield Grammar School spokesman said the school was actively working with their families, neighbours and council partners to find long-term, constructive solutions to traffic and parking in a safe and respectful manner.
“The safety and wellbeing of our students remains our number-one priority,” he said.
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