School parking policy '˜unfair'

A mother claims a primary school's inconsistent and 'unfair' approach to parking is placing her autistic sons' lives in jeopardy.

Gillian Belington, of Park Avenue, Stenhousemuir, said the parking issues at Langlees Primary School, which had been going on for a number of weeks, came to a head before the school broke up for mid-term.

She said: “I have four children with autism and I’ve had discussions with the head teacher over accessibility to the car park. I had always been able to park in the car park but recently the school has made changes.

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People with disabilities or a blue badge could always use the staff car park and disabled parking spaces, but now the car park is divided in two. If your child can physically walk you can’t park on the right side, which is safer and better for children – especially autistic children.

“I agreed with the head teacher I would not park in the disabled bays and I was told it was okay for me to park anywhere else, but then I was told I couldn’t park on the right side because my children were not physically disabled and could walk.”

Then Mrs Belington said she noticed another parent with an autistic child was still allowed to park on the right side while she was not.

“This was direct discrimination,” she argued.

Falkirk Council is currently investigating the matter.

A spokesperson said: “We are aware of concerns raised regarding parking. We have looked at a range of options and new parking arrangements are now in place. The head teacher will pass this information on to all parents.”