16/09/03 - Local community have their say on changes to school bus

On Wednesday 17th September at The Oval Centre in Salterbeck at 1pm, Cumbria County Council's Local Committee for Allerdale will hear from local parents, the neighbourhood forum and the local Councillor, Alan Clark, about the difficulties that lots of village children have experienced on their first week back at school following the changes to the school bus service. In addition the Chair of the Parish Council will also present a petition.   

County Councillor Barbara Cannon, Chair of the Local Committee says,   

"I will be taking, as urgent business, representations from the Dearham community about the difficulties that quite a number of local children are facing following new changes to a school transport contract affecting children at Netherhall School."   

County Councillor Alan Clark, Vice-chair of the Local Committee adds, 

"It looks like neither the staff working for the Education Department nor the County Council's Public Transport Team have understood how arrangements actually worked for pupils at Netherhall School from the Dearham area.   

The change in the school pupil transport contract means that school pupils who have to pay their bus fare are waiting another hour and a half after the end of the school day before they can get on a bus home. It's no use politicians and officers in Carlisle saying that it is parents' responsibility to see that their children get to school and safely home. We all know it's not that simple.   

We will wait to see what the local community has to say, but I'm sure that we will want to lobby strongly on their behalf to get a fair resolution to this problem. There needs to be a big enough bus in a morning to take everyone, and a bus timed closer to the end of the school day."