Over fifteen protestors turned out, as well as directors of Ridleys Coaches, and staff from Stratford Girls Grammar School. Warwickshire Police were in attendance,
As with the previous week, the traffic was noticeably lighter than usual, and it is assumed that dirvers have found alternative routes and/or dropping off locations for the days when the protest is known to be happening.
Despite the police presence, the videos show a driver demanding that a protestor move aside so that the driver could drive on the pavement to get around a stationary coach. We saw a number of other examples of cars driving on the pavement to navigate the gridlock caused by the school buses.
Another clip shows a Ridley’s director intervening to reverse a coach between parked cars as a van attempts to drive around the coach on the pavement, despite a cyclist approaching in the opposite direction. Eventually the van is forced to stop, blocking traffic in both directions for several minutes while the van driver gets out of his vehicle to argue with the cyclist.
The gridlock was eased by the Ridley’s directors standing at either end of Shottery, directing the coaches when to wait and when to move. This was of considerable assistance to reduce the congestion, and we asked them if they could come back every day to do the same. Sadly they indicated that they could not.
This does support our contention to Warwickshire County Council (Highways Department) that temporary traffic lights at school drop off and collection times would be a significant improvement (a contention, as with all other suggestions, that Warwickshire County Council have ignored for 2 years).
Ridleys’ directors told us that they sympathised with our protest and that they have themselves been petitioning Warwickshire County Council for 10 years to provide traffic control in Shottery at school times. They agreed to join forces with us to jointly campaign for action by the Highways authority.
(Tues 20 January) – afternoon
More footage of cars driving on the pavement in Shottery to navigate the grid-lock caused by the school buses, and in some cases reversing along the pavement, despite the fact that school children and others on foot are using the pavement. The protest split into two groups, the second occupying the pavement on the Bell roundabout opposite Church Lane. The footage shows the daily grid-lock there as double decker buses stop on the roundabout to pick up students, blocking traffic in all directions at the mini roundabout for lengthy periods. In some cases buses mount the pavement to get around other stationary buses.
Thursday 22 January – morning
Our member returned to Shottery on a non protest day, to record how much worse the situation is when there are no protestors and no police. The footage shows numerous vehicles using the pavement and in some cases driving around the blind corner on the pavement when there are pedestrians on the pavement. The absence of police also encouraged drivers opposed to the protest to shout verbal abuse at our member – one calling our member a “prick” and a “paedo” for daring to film the traffic, and telling him to “get a life”.