Latest news with #schoolpickup
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Thousands of Aussies rocked by magnitude 3.5 earthquake as shockwaves felt in regional town
A 3.5 magnitude earthquake has struck near a regional town in New South Wales. The quake struck at a depth of 2km near Appin, about 70km southwest of Sydney 's CBD in the Macarthur region, just before 3pm on Wednesday. 'Felt it and heard it - Mount Annan. Split second and internet and computer shut off and off,' one woman wrote online. 'Just felt this! Parked waiting for school pick up and originally thought someone had hit my car due to how much it shook,' a second said. More to come.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Parents could still be forced to switch car engines off at Solihull school pick-up times
Solihull councillors have delayed a decision on how best to stop parents waiting outside schools with their car engines running. An order with the threat of fines was among the calls made to solve the problem when a motion and petition on the issue was passed to the authority last year. Council officers recommended Solihull 'should continue and expand the education programmes to help raise awareness'. READ MORE : Already-built huge house extension in Solihull finally gets approval Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp But Coun Max McLoughlin, who originally submitted the motion, told a scrutiny board meeting on May 22: 'It (education) has not tackled the behaviour. 'Part of the reason I recommended a PSPO is because there is a tension that exists between people driving to pick children up from school and residents. 'When residents knock on the windscreens of cars idling, very often it turns into a confrontation. 'It creates stress for the children, for the parents, for the residents." Coun McLoughlin said he felt a report on the issue was missing air quality details adding there was evidence elsewhere Solihull was in an area with some of the 'worse respiratory health impacts', with car idling a factor. Coun Josh O'Nyons asked: 'How is the council planning to track and evaluate the compliance or behaviour change of its educational campaigns without enforcement?" Council officer Sarah Alder replied: 'We can do some targeted monitoring of the number of cars idling beforehand. 'We have to do that slightly covertly because if people see any enforcement officer that starts to change behaviour. 'And then the number afterwards as well, to assess if that has had any impact.' Council officers had suggested providing two enforcement officers would be an additional cost of £140,000 to the authority's annual budget. But Coun Laura McCarthy was among the board members who questioned that figure. She added: 'I don't think I can support any particular recommendation at the moment because I have so many unanswered questions I don't think could be answered (at the meeting). 'The cost (of the education campaign compared to PSPO enforcement) is most imperative'. The officer stressed £140,000 was an 'indicative' cost in the report with the actual cost dependent on the preferred enforcement mechanism and size of the team. Coun Alan Feeney, chairman of the board, said: 'PSPOs are great if and when they are enforced. 'While it is wonderful to have it, if it is not actually being fully utilised then it is not worth the signage it goes up on.' Councillors agreed they could not recommend a preferred option and asked for a new report to be produced to come back in front of the board at a later date.
