Residents near Ballakermeen High School in Douglas are being urged to attend a public meeting amid growing concern at proposed changes to traffic arrangements, branded ’dangerous’ by one householder.

Douglas Central MHK Ann Corlett has arranged a meeting for today (Wednesday) after a planning application to introduce a one-way system for traffic inside the school grounds could mean even more vehicles being directed onto narrow roads and lanes that are already busy at school run times.

Mrs Corlett said a planning application submitted by the Department of Infrastructure (1900825/B) appeared to suggest that the idea would be for all traffic to enter the school area via the current Westminster Drive entrance next to the sports hall, but to then leave via a barrier exit at Westbourne Drive and a gated exit onto a lane behind Westminster Terrace.

Her understanding was buses would continue to leave via St Catherine’s Drive.

At the moment, pedestrian access to the school is via a gate at the Westbourne Drive end, which looks set to be moved a short distance.

Mrs Corlett said: ’My worry is that they are going to have deliveries coming into the school and then they are going to put them down Westbourne Drive, as well as the cars.’

Currently both sides of Westbourne Drive are used by residents for parking.

’If you have something coming up and something coming down, they cannot pass,’ added Mrs Corlett, who is a member of the Department of Education.

A resident of Westminster Terrace is one of several in the area who have already written to planners expressing alarm.

’Allowing traffic to exit Westbourne Drive and the lane adjacent to Westminster Terrace will cause traffic congestion in roads not designed to deal with excessive traffic flow,’ the resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

’Not only will it be dangerous for cars exiting the lane onto Westminster Terrace but also the large number of pupils who walk up and down that lane.’

Mrs Corlett said it also looked as though the proposal could lead to more traffic heading into Westbourne Drive and then the crossroads with Hawarden Avenue, which is particularly busy during the school run times, with children heading, on foot, in two directions - to the high school and going the other way towards the Henry Bloom Noble Primary School in Westmoreland Road.

Mrs Corlett expressed surprise that, on the planning application form for the proposal, a box has been ticked to say that there will be no impact on public access to the highway. She has arranged for representatives of the Department of Infrastructure to attend the meeting in All Saints’ Hall tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7pm, at which she hopes they will allay concerns.

One resident of Westbourne Drive, who asked not to be named, told the Examiner residents had already been disturbed by the work taking place on the school field but they were especially concerned at the one-way system proposals, which were published earlier this month.

’We’re worried about the increased traffic, the possibility of a bottleneck and safety for pedestrians,’ she said.

Although it is the school holidays, it has not been a quiet time at the school. An area at the Hawarden Avenue end of the school field has been dug up and hard standing laid down.

Last week, a number of additional mobile classrooms were lifted onto the opposite end of the field - an operation that required the closure of part of St Catherine’s Drive.

Earlier this year, the Department of Education was granted permission to build a first floor extension to the sixth form block, to create a study room on the terrace next to the common room.

The DoI also has two different planning applications for bicycle shelters - one for 20 and the other for 10 - listed as pending consideration.