'A child will die': Ongoing parking issue at Johnstone nursery

Colin Ferguson fears children’s lives are being put at risk by parents parking on the road outside Spateston Early Learning Centre - rather than using a designated car park 100 yards away.

The lifelong Johnstone resident says that Halhill Road is completely congested during drop-off and pick-up times, and he believes it’s only a matter of time until a child gets hit.

“It’s double parking,” Colin said. “They park on both sides of the road, and in the bus stop.

“Then they open their doors right into the road, and stop the traffic while they’re getting their kids in or out of the car.

“It’s crazy at 3pm, you can barely drive through there. You’re wing mirror to wing mirror on both sides. It’s an accident waiting to happen.

Cars parked outside Spateston Early Learning Centre (Image: Robert Perry)

Colin’s main worry is that nothing will change until a child comes to harm.

“A kid is going to die,” he said. “I’ve already seen three or four close calls down there, with kids running out.

“You know what children are like, they’re unpredictable. And if a kid does suddenly dash out from between some parked cars, you’re not going to have a chance to stop in time.

“And it’s not just the kids. The driver that ends up hitting a child is going to spend the rest of their life thinking about it.”

Local resident Colin Ferguson, who fears a child will come to serious harm (Image: Robert Perry)

Colin finds it very frustrating that parents choose not to use the 50-berth car park next to the Spateston Inn, which was re-lined last year and is only 100 yards from the early learning centre.

“There’s no need for it,” he said. “It’s just common sense, and common courtesy to other drivers. It’s ignorance, and it gets on my nerves. I’ve had enough.

“These people refuse to walk their kids 100 yards to the car park. It’s insane to me.

“There are bigger problems in this world, sure. But it is going to end in the death of a kid - I’ve got no doubt about that.”

Cars lining Halhill Street outside the nursery (Image: Robert Perry)

Colin outside the nursery. He's lived in the area all his life (Image: Robert Perry)

Andy Steel, SNP councillor for Johnstone South and Elderslie, helped get the lines repainted in the nearby car park last year. He urged parents at the time to use the newly lined facility, saying he was concerned by “the potential for an accident” - as we reported in June 2023.

However, speaking to the Renfrewshire Gazette more recently, the councillor said lining the car park “hasn’t made much difference.”

“I had hoped that lining the car park would encourage more families to park in there,” he said, “but it’s not made much difference.

“I think additional steps, such as fencing to make sure no one can run into the road, are needed.”

The councillor said the situation has “all the ingredients to go wrong.”

“I’ve asked several times for a look to be taken at this as it does concern me,” he said.

“Where you’ve got pre-school age kids coming onto a road busy with cars, vans and buses you need to ensure everything which can be done is being done.

“Sometimes we see accidents waiting to happen everywhere, but this one has all the ingredients to go wrong.”

Renfrewshire Council said that they are currently undertaking an assessment of the parking situation at the nursery.

A spokesperson for the council said: “We have carried out parking surveys in the vicinity of Spateston Early Learning Centre after concerns about parking were raised, and we will now carry out further surveys to understand the volume of traffic and pedestrians using the road.

“These surveys will inform an assessment of the road, which will be in line with our Road Safety policy. If the assessment indicates interventions are needed, these will be subject to consultation and a potential legal process.

“We are also progressing with arrangements to enforce the Pavement Parking ban which will give our parking attendants the ability to issue penalty charge notices for pavement parking and double parking offences from November 2024.

“If you have concerns about road safety, please contact our team.”