Seatoun parents draft seven-page accord for school car park chaos

Pickup at the Seatoun primary school car park now runs under an accord drafted by three parents from government departments. The document is seven pages. The car park is fourteen spaces. It has been fourteen spaces the whole time.

Under the accord the end by the wheelie bins is a neutral zone. The spot nearest the gate rotates on a fortnightly roster. From 2.55pm a parent in a lanyard stands at the entrance as "observer". Nobody can say who appointed the observer. The observer has a clipboard.

Fenella Court, who wrote the first draft, said it came out of what she called "the June thing". "It wasn't a fight. Nobody says it was a fight. A Rav4 ended up nose to nose with a Subaru and there was a conversation, and after that we just — look, we needed a framework. We'd have one at work. So we had one at the gate. Version four's got a dispute clause now, which, I mean, that's just good practice."

Disputes go to "the bench", which is the park bench by the fence. Two parents hear both sides and rule before the bell. A Miramar dad who has sat on the bench twice said rulings were "binding, sort of". A Hilux appealed one in July. The appeal is still pending. The Hilux no longer attends.

The school office said the arrangement was "parent-led" and the school had "no position on it". Kurt Leeming, a sparky who does pickup Tuesdays and Thursdays, has not signed the accord and has not read it. "Pull up on the grass by the gate. Kid gets in. Gone. Ninety seconds, mate. Back on site before smoko's over." He said the observer had tried to hand him a copy. "Told her it's a bloody car park. It's got a kerb. You park at it." Leeming is the only parent on record collecting a child in under a minute. He does not own a lanyard.

The accord is cable-tied to the fence by the entrance. Wednesday's northerly took pages three to five, which Court confirmed were "most of the roster". The observer was back at 2.55pm Thursday with the clipboard, enforcing a cover page.