FOI Request - Elgin Academy Car Park
Request 101002903282
1) Can you please send me a link to the Equality Impact Assessment which details the effect of this policy on disabled drivers or their disabled passengers?
2) Will there be a decision preventing reverse parking?
3) Will there be a rule preventing parents from stopping (out with a bay) in the upper staff car park as they do currently?
4) Who has jurisdiction over the different roads within Elgin?
5) Can you please send me a link to the public consultation document on this policy for all road users, road owners and residents?
6) What traffic flow study or modelling has been undertaken to understand how the new flow of traffic will work?
7) Was this part of your consultation document?
Response 02-11-21
1) Can you please send me a link to the Equality Impact Assessment which details the effect of this policy on disabled drivers or their disabled passengers?
Assessing the impact of our plans in an equalities context is an ongoing process, integral to the development of policies, procedures and practices. In this instance a separate EIA is not needed to demonstrate due regard to elements of the Public Sector Equality Duty, nor is such a document a guarantee that due regard was given. When deciding on a course of action we must make a balance, using best value principles of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equality. The development of the changes to the upper car parks at the school have taken the needs of the different vulnerable road users, abled bodied and those with mobility impairments, into account.
2) Will there be a decision preventing reverse parking?
No. Reversing into a space is recognised as a safer way in which to park. All drivers take a different amount of time to park in a parking space, be it in reverse or when they drive into a space.
3) Will there be a rule preventing parents from stopping (out with a bay) in the upper staff car park as they do currently?
No. Should issues continue to arise with the car parks at the school then advice on parking behaviours will be disseminated through the school newsletter or other appropriate means of communicating with parents/carers.
4) Who has jurisdiction over the different roads within Elgin?
The A96 is a Trunk Road and therefore the responsibility of Transport Scotland and their agent Bear (Scotland) Ltd. All other public roads in Elgin are the responsibility of the Moray Council.
5) Can you please send me a link to the public consultation document on this policy for all road users, road owners and residents?
There has been no public consultation for the internal changes to the car park, therefore no such document is held under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information Not Held. However the school and the Parent Council have been consulted, along with the operator of the school FES as the key parties with an interest in the school estate.
6) What traffic flow study or modelling has been undertaken to understand how the new flow of traffic will work?
Traffic modelling was not required to undertake the changes to the Academy Car Park. The queuing situation from the Elgin Academy ‘drop off’ access and the impact on pedestrians on Morriston Road have been raised since the opening of the new school. Transportation officers have visited the Academy on numerous occasions, before and since the opening of the new school. The most recent visits to the school by Transportation officers to observe movements within the car park and on Morriston Road were in December 2018, February 2019 and November 2019 to observe behaviours. These were the most recent (pre-covid) occasions. These observations were used for the development of the design for the changes to the car park layout.
7) Was this part of your consultation document?
Consultation with the school and Parent Council was based on drawings which were changed as the design progressed to incorporate comments received, including from FES who run the school estate. The most recent drawing is attached for your information. Please note it is not unusual for minor amendments to take place during construction of projects.