PEDESTRIAN access to a cemetery in Carlton will be welded shut - to stop inconsiderate parents using it as a car park at school time.
The cemetery, on Royston Road, is adjacent to Outwood Academy Carlton and its custodians from Carlton Community Group say they have been left with no choice but to take action at peak times to deter motorists from parking on the cemetery’s grass.
A stand was taken last Thursday afternoon when the vehicular access gates on the Wood Lane side of the venue were closed - something that’s happened all this week at around 8am and 2.30pm - but Barnsley Council has stepped in and the Chronicle can reveal that its pedestrian access on Royston Road will be closed permanently.
Coun Malcolm Clements said: “Although the two vehicle accesses will remain open, it’s hoped that by closing the pedestrian access so pupils can’t get in, it will make it pointless for parents to continue parking inside the cemetery.
“It’s a sad state of affairs when we have to step in and do such a thing, but we have been left with no choice. The problem is not with the children, it’s with the parents who continue to park there despite both the school and council asking them not to.
“We had a meeting about this very issue earlier this week and people are rightfully disappointed in their behaviour. We’ve even heard that some funerals have been disrupted by parents and that is just not on.”
Signs warning parents who continue to park have been installed at the cemetery this week, while Carlton Community Group’s Wendy Ogley issued an appeal for them to be respectful of the venue and its lawful visitors.
“Something needed to be done as it’s just not fair - this is a place for people to come and spend time with their loved ones,” she said. “It’s not a car park, but that is what it was becoming. All we are asking is for parents to respect that, we are not asking for the world.
“We felt we had no choice but to close the gates last Thursday. We continued doing it, but the council told us that we were breaking the law so we will now just stand at the gates at peak times.
“They have been parking on the grass, the pathway and clogging the cemetery. It’s a place of rest but some people who are visiting graves have not been able to get parked because of them.
“We’ve asked the parents nicely and received verbal abuse for it, but the children are always polite when we ask them to use the path which goes around the cemetery’s boundary.”
Parents have been accused of running over young trees which were recently planted by youngsters from Carlton Primary Academy to remember local soldiers lost in World War One.
“Thirteen out of the 30 trees planted have been flattened by parents who have driven over them,” Wendy added. “We’ve replaced the broken ones but the ethos of the planting was to inspire the next generation of children to look after their village.
“How does this inspire anyone when grown adults behave like this? There is a car park two minutes away that’s recently been resurfaced - this is where they should be going.”
A spokesman from the school said they had sent letters home to parents to advise them not to use the cemetery as a car park.
In the letter they appealed to parents to think twice about where they park in the future in relation to using the cemetery.
“We are aware that some parents use the cemetery as a drop-off or pick-up point for their children and although we have requested that they do not do this, some have continued to do so,” a spokesman told the Chronicle.
“There is little that we can do about this. Equally, a number of our students walk to and from the academy through the cemetery and although we recognise that this can sometimes disturb people who are visiting the cemetery, and the principal has spoken to students in assemblies about showing respect, there has never been any incident of poor or disrespectful behaviour from our students while walking through the cemetery.
“We are unsure what more the academy can do to help this situation.”
