PUNCHES have been thrown outside Saline Primary School over parking problems that could yet be resolved thanks to an unlikely source.

A resident was struck after an argument during the school run turned violent and fed-up villagers may turn to the firm behind a housing proposal in a quid pro quo deal.

Last week we reported on Gladman Developments Ltd’s plans to build up to 130 homes at West Road and now residents are looking at what they can get in return. David Chisholm, chair of Saline Community Council, explained, “Some people now see an opportunity for a trade-off – some homes on the site in return for the school drop-off point and new school entrance.” And he explained, “Matters reached a head before Christmas when a parent dropping off children assaulted a resident who had complained to him about parking across their driveway.

“The police did become involved and identified someone. It was an extreme example of what can happen if you allow inconsiderate parking to continue.

“I know the previous headteacher had spoken to a woman and asked if she wouldn’t mind parking elsewhere and was told, ‘What concern is it of yours?’” Mr Chisholm said congestion caused by “inconsiderately parked vehicles on Oakley Road” at school drop-off and pick-up times had been an ongoing issue. He added, “The problem is particularly acute for anyone living in Craighouse Place who wants to pull out into Oakley Road.

“The police occasionally visit and encourage motorists to think more carefully about where they park and the headteacher has used the school website to encourage parents and staff to be more considerate and park further away.” But he said the problems had persisted and a local resident had come up with a “radical idea” to change the access points.

Mr Chisholm said, “The proposal is to reconfigure the bus turning circle and small car park on West Road, relocate the bus stop and create a dedicated school drop-off point and additional car-parking.

“A wide pathway from the drop-off point through a new garden – the school has no green space at present – would become the primary access to the school.

“This would also create an attractive village green.” He said the community council had previously approached the family that own the land to see if the suggestion could work but they were “non-committal and hinted at other plans to develop the land, now revealed”.

Plans to build hundreds of houses across different sites in Saline are causing “considerable anxiety” but Mr Chisholm reasons that, if the plans were approved, then the village should benefit too.

He said, “When it was first suggested a few years ago it was an aspiration but now it could be a bargaining point.” It will now be put to the developers at a consultation event in Saline Community Centre on Thursday 5th February, between 3-7pm.