Glyn, would it be a good idea to post seperately about the personal safety classes? I'm sure there would be a lot of interest.
The fiasco of removing free parking bays from the SH school has resulted in you getting an extra job. We are working on this and hoping the council will listen to reason. Ideally all children would walk or even cycle to school, in reality that isn't always going to happen. I am going to speak to the GRA and the councillors about sorting this out.
Those free parking spaces were also used by people who use the Mattison Road swimming pool and the after school/holiday playschemes at the school. In these cases, most people who used them were there for a very short period of time only and really appreciated them. The swimming lessons (which are excellent) last only 30 minutes - most people do walk or cycle to them, but, as you say, not everyone can do this all the time.