Caregivers are asked to take care and be considerate of pedestrians and other vehicles when driving and parking around the College.
Concerns have been raised about the unsafe practices of some people dropping off and collecting students near Columba College. In particular, there are concerns about cars parking on yellow lines at the intersection of Oban and Tyne Streets as well as Garfield Avenue. This is causing serious congestion and posing a real threat to student safety. Additionally, the top end of Tyne Street has been blocked off and this has worsened congestion on Oban Street at morning drop off and afternoon pick up.
Please remember that parking on Oban Street, outside the school, has a limit of five minutes and is to be used for drop-off/pick-up only. You will be asked to move on if you stay longer than five minutes.
We would remind parents/caregivers to take special care and adhere to the following requests:
- Please do not drop off students in the middle of Oban Street. This is very dangerous.
- Please do not try to U-turn on Oban Street or use the office/admin entry to complete a three-point turn. This creates congestion and prevents staff from arriving at school on time.
- Please only turn left onto Highgate from Oban Street, rather than trying to turn right and thereby banking traffic behind you.
- Council traffic management has informed us we can use the bus stops on Highgate for drop off only when not in use by buses. We stress this is drop-off only and they cannot be used as a waiting pick-up zone.
We have been informed that the disruption to Tyne Street will continue throughout February as the work on electricity lines progresses. The work was meant to have been completed before school started but has faced delays. It is likely that, toward the end of February, Tyne Street will be blocked completely.
We want to keep our students safe, and we believe that it may be best for caregivers to avoid Oban Street altogether. Far safer would be for you to park further away and walk your children the last part of the way to school.