I WRITE as an apparently "irresponsible" parent of two children who attend Holly Mount school, and in reply to the letter written by "Very Concerned Resident" (Feb 4).

The writer calls parents who drive up to the school "selfish" and refers to some families living only half a mile away. Well, yes, a handful of families do live half a mile away. However, because of the good reputation of the school, families travel to it from all over Bury and all parents are entitled to choose how they transport their children to and from school.

Many do make the effort to park their cars and walk in order to ease congestion on the lane itself and around the school. However, the bottom of the lane then becomes congested and cars spill over into Brookside Crescent, where I suspect "Very Concerned Resident" lives.

Returning to the central issue, yes I do expect "our council" (mine as well as yours) to take some responsibility for this lane i.e to maintain it and grit it in winter. It is not a "private" road, as the writer states, but an "unadopted" road and its ownership is in dispute.

In 1968 another parent wrote to the council airing all the same concerns as we parents have done some 32 years later. He also referred to the fact that a school bus used to transport children but had to be withdrawn because it was getting badly damaged by being driven up a lane which was in such poor condition.

The writer does make an excellent point in saying that those who do walk to school are in constant danger of being bumped by cars because of the hazardous condition of the lane, and the fact that there is no path at the top. The school, the council and other bodies have done endless talking over the years and got absolutely nowhere. Parents are all too aware of the situation and, contrary to the writer's opinion, if it were not for their consideration and care in manoeuvring their vehicles a child would have been killed long before now.

I do feel for the residents who live both on Holly Mount Lane and Brookside Crescent. We have parking spaces for 31 cars on our car park and with 11 full-time staff, a headteacher, two classroom assistants and a caretaker, that leaves us parents with 16 allotted parking spaces. There are 340 children at the school, it is one of the biggest in Bury. Mums, dads and teachers have spent much time and energy spreading many tons of gravel on to the field so that we can use this for parking, but in winter the whole field is waterlogged and unusable.

Some parents drive, some walk, some park their cars at the bottom of the lane and then walk the last half mile. People do different things on different days and always will. People have different commitments from day to day. The lane is narrow and in a terrible condition and people and cars struggle up it in whatever way they can. We park wherever we can and we do try to show consideration.

I can appreciate that it must be annoying living next to all this but originally there was very little at the top of the lane and now there are a whole host of buildings with different functions. I can only apologise for the chaos twice a day but, as already mentioned, there are a lot of children to get safely to and from school and we do the best we can given the circumstances.

I do share the writer's concerns, but I do not believe that the simple suggestion of educating parents to take a more responsible attitude is the whole answer.

Yes, parents must be considerate and responsible, but we need a practical solution to this problem and practical help.

The lane does not just need resurfacing, as the writer states, for this has already been done on several occasions and has been funded privately. The road needs proper drainage so that the pot holes will not keep re-appearing and so that water will disperse instead of constantly flooding the lane. The road needs to be gritted when it is icy, just like any other road in Bury, and a safe pathway needs to be provided at the top of the lane so that those who do walk can do so safely.

A PARENT

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.