The trustees of the Marden Memorial Hall say parents’ parking is a problem. (Image: SWNS)
Marden Primary Academy in Maidstone, Kent, will welcome 100 new pupils – but locals argue that parents already cause havoc with their parking habits, blocking driveways and disregarding zig-zag lines while dropping off their children.
Despite these concerns, Maidstone Borough Council’s Planning Committee unanimously approved Leigh Academies Trust’s proposal to expand the school and construct a new single-storey building. The expansion will include four new classrooms, a dining hall, kitchen, staff room, and new hard surface play areas, increasing the school’s capacity from 292 to 397 pupils.
This will enable Marden Primary Academy to have two classes per year group, a necessary growth due to the influx of new homes in the area. However, locals fear that the increased student population will exacerbate traffic issues on Goudhurst Road, where the school is situated.
Although the school provides staff parking, there is currently no off-street parking for parents or visitors. Cllr Claudine Russell, a ward councillor for Marden, voiced her concerns, saying: “You see the parents dropping their kids off. They park on the yellow zig-zags. They block people’s driveways. They go wherever.
“Let’s be clear. It’s not parking. It’s car abandonment!”
Cllr Claudine Russell said parents “abandon” their cars. (Image: SWNS)
The planned expansion of Marden Primary Academy is expected to lead to a significant increase in the number of pupils and, consequently, a rise in traffic congestion. As Councillor Annabelle Blackmore noted, “We will be going from slightly under a one-and-a half form entry to a two-form entry. So that is more pupils and more cars.
“We need to have a realistic view about what that is going to do to the main road through Marden.”
Councillor Tony Harwood (Lib Dem) expressed concerns about the environmental and health implications, recounting his visit to the school where he witnessed parents “sitting in a pool of fumes” as they waited to pick up their children.
He said, “There were a number of 4×4 [cars], sitting with their engines chugging away for half an hour before the school was even due out.”
Cllr Tony Harwood said parents sit in “a pool of fumes”. (Image: SWNS)
Councillor Maureen Cleator (Lab) shared a similar experience at a school near her home: “The parents sit there with their engines running – and I know for a fact that many of them are not even driving very far to pick their kids up.”
The issue is further complicated by the fact that parents of Marden Primary Academy students are parking in spaces reserved for nearby Marden Memorial Hall, blocking access for the hall’s users. The hall’s trustees have indicated that they are exploring ways to prevent unauthorised parking, a sentiment echoed by Marden Pre-School, which uses the Memorial Hall and has expressed frustration about the lack of parking availability for their customers.
Councillors are concerned about the increased traffic generated by more places (Image: SWNS)
In response, councillors have suggested that Leigh Academy Trust, which operates Marden Primary Academy, consider employing a lollipop person to deter parents from parking on zig-zag lines. The proposal for a walking bus to alleviate traffic issues near the school was amongst the topics raised, but planning committee chair Cllr Paul Wilby (Lib Dem) explained that although it’s part of the school’s travel plan, legally mandating the trust to employ a lollipop person was not feasible.
Cllr Cleator felt such a measure should not be beyond the scope of the school: “The Leigh Academy Trust is a very rich, very big multi-academy trust.
“It has got a lot of money. They certainly pay their chief executive a lot.”
Concerns were also voiced by councillors over the removal of three trees due to the development plans. In response, Leigh Academies Trust plans to compensate with 11 new plantings, but Cllr Mike Summersgill (Green) expressed skepticism about the maintenance.
“Can we ensure the trust looks after these trees better than they have in the past?” he commented.
“Tree loss on the site has been a big concern for many local people.”
Marden Primary Academy is part of the multi-school Leigh Academies Trust. (Image: SWNS)
Further scrutiny came regarding the proximity of the new school building to neighbouring properties.
Nevertheless, planning officers clarified this design choice was to safeguard an existing oak tree. Lastly, the fate of great crested newts inhabiting the site drew attention, raising environmental concerns following the infilling of a pond for the development application.
The trust has conceded that there are no plans to relocate the newts. Instead, it will fulfil its legal obligations by contributing £33,000 to Natural England for a project aimed at creating newt-friendly ponds elsewhere.
The expansion of Marden Primary Academy will be entirely funded through Section 106 contributions and Community Infrastructure Levies (CIL) collected by Maidstone Borough Council from local developers. The most recent publicly accessible accounts for Leigh Academies Trust (as of August 31, 2023) reveal that its CEO, Simon Beamish, earns an annual salary in the range of £300,000 to £310,000.
Leigh Academies Trust was contacted for comment.