Radstock Town Councillor for the Writhlington ward, Keith Tyrrell, says he is determined to find the £17,000 needed to put down an all-weather parking surface at the back of Writhlington Village Hall, to help ease congestion for parents of primary school children at St Mary’s and to help hall users. With the assistance of the developer working on the new housing estate at Knobsbury Lane, Cllr Tyrrell is now in a race against time to find the cash before the developer leaves the area, taking the equipment that has been offered to lay the surface.

Several quotes have been obtained for the work, with the developers’ coming in cheapest at £23,000. The Writhlington Village Hall committee has offered £6,000 of its funds for the work, leaving £17,000 to pay. Cllr Tyrrell is due to put forward the case at Radstock Town Council’s June meeting next Monday, but says if the money is not available, then there will have to be a very rapid fundraising drive if the scheme is to stand a chance. Hundreds of signatures have been collected by those who would like to see a new car park, which will be presented to the Town Council to support the case.

St Mary’s Primary School takes 120 pupils, with an additional 23 nursery children and with the pressures of narrow country roads and a busy garage business opposite, spaces are limited. Parents have been using the rough ground behind the back of the village hall with the permission of the committee to drop-off and pick-up their children, however, this is not ideal, and in bad weather, the surface is too muddy for cars to access at all. The village hall is also well used during the week, both during the day and in the evening.

The main message, campaigners say, is that ‘kids and cars don’t mix’, and that the creation of a special car park for the drop-off and collection of children is essential.

Further safety measures are also in discussion along the Frome Road as part of the developer’s contribution at Knobsbury Lane. Local campaigners have been calling for speed restrictions along the busy Frome Road for years, with a parent at the school in talks with local police about setting up a speedwatch programme. St Mary’s Primary School has a travel plan for the children, and will be placing further emphasis on this from September, with walking and scooting incentives for children to get to and from school. However, unless road safety is addressed, it will be difficult to convince parents that their children would be better off without being transported in cars.