Pilot project to ban traffic from school gates to launch at three Fife schools

An 18-month experiment will be held at Pitcoudie Primary School in Glenrothes, Denend Primary in Cardenden and St Marie’s Primary in Kirkcaldy - and if successful it could be rolled out to other schools across the region.

It will see flashing lights activated to alert parents to the ‘no parking’ rules between 8.30am and 9.30am, and again between 2.30pm and 3.30pm. each school day.

The pilot comes after a report in November 2021 which proposed banning non-residential traffic from school entrances at set periods in a bid to ensure pupils could get to and from the school gates in safety.

The issue has already been backed by Glenrothes area committee, and this week it was the turn of Kirkcaldy councillors to rubber stamp St Marie’s participation in the pilot.

Councillor Ian Cameron, convener, said: “There have been near misses. This is an issue of pupil safety.

“There will be knock on effects which we have to take on board. This is a pilot and it will have implications for many schools in Kirkcaldy area.”

There was support across the committee with calls for other schools to be considered should it be rolled out - Dunnikier Primary School was one of the places which applied to be part of the pilot.

Councillor Kathleen Leslie said Strathallan Primary was ideal for a similar ‘no traffic’ zone, and she asked for an interim report after six months to get feedback on how it was going.

“It may help feed into other wards where we know there are concerns around schools,” she added.

She as backed by Councillor Judy Hamilton who said: “Eighteen months is a long time to wait for others to see what works and what fall out there is if people park in other streets. We know trials in Edinburgh had issues along the way.”

Denend was the subject of a major push for action from parents after years of problems at the school gates.

They convinced officers to include the school in the trial