Petition calls for more parent-child parking in Guernsey

A Guernsey mum is calling on the States to provide larger parking bays for young families.

Mum-of-two Victoria Robert is leading a campaign to introduce more Parent and Child parking spaces in public car parks especially around St Peter Port. 

A petition has been shared online.

Victoria says larger, dedicated bays are needed, as it can be difficult and potentially dangerous to get babies, toddlers and young children out of vehicles in tightly packed spaces.

She says the spaces don’t necessarily need to be closer to the entrance:

"It's not about parents having a prestigious place in front of a car park where it's easy for them to get to the shops quicker.

"It's about having a safer parking space where they can get their children safely in and out of the car.

"Many of the parents I've spoken to have said that they would heavily support having parking spaces at the back of North Beach, where they would have to walk a little bit further, but they had enough room to get bulky car seats and prams out of the car without having to worry about trying to reverse out of a parking space and leaving their kid on the side of the road.

"It's not about trying to wedge as many cars as possible into a parking lot, but rather making sure that the infrastructure actually supports the people that need to use it."

Victoria says one mum reached out to her after the petition launched, with a particularly bad experience at the Odeon car park:

"She had just been given the all-clear from a C-section, still a little bit sore, but she literally could not open the door wide enough to get her baby in the car, even though the cars on either side were parked well within the lines.

"She actually had to put the child in through the boot, and she had to climb through the boot.

"That is a wild prospect to even consider that someone would have to do that post-surgery."

Islanders who signed the petition shared their experiences in the comments.

"When my children were young and in car seats, sometimes it was actually impossible to get them in and out of the car (Toyota Auris so not massive) because spaces are just too small. We didn’t need spaces right by the entrance, just needed ones that were wide enough."

"This is a major problem, I really struggle with getting my child in his car seat when people park so close. My child is 2, so I can't leave him standing in the car park whilst I move my car forward to get him in. It makes coming to town a worrying experience."

"We need to support young families as much as we can, and this is a great way to do that."

Deputy Ross Le Brun is taking up the cause and has contacted Traffic and Highways, Environment and Infrastructure, and the Development and Planning authority.

We've approached the States for comment, and await their response.