PARENTS of children who have been left without a school bus service staged a walk to show the hazards of the ‘approved’ route to their school.
They walked for an hour from Downend to Winterbourne Academy with 25 of their children, who are pupils at the secondary school, on the first day of term.
Parents have been calling for action to reinstate the axed 458 service from Straits Parade via Downend to the secondary school.
Commercial operator Stagecoach pulled out of the route last year and the school, which ran the service using its own vehicle until July, says it can no longer afford to run it.
Parent Katie Cains, who helped organise the protest walk, said: “The suggested ‘council assessed’ walking route to Winterbourne Academy from Downend was not a viable option on the day, due to the wet weather conditions.
“As a collective we made the decision to walk via Hambrook and crossed at the traffic lights. “Throughout the journey, adults had to assist with road crossings, and raise awareness of multiple cyclists also using the same pathway.
“How children from the age of 11 are supposed to navigate and feel safe on this one-hour route is beyond belief.”
Katie said the West of England Combined Authority, which has strategic responsibility for transport, had “failed to support or acknowledge” their concerns – or the extra cars on the road taking children to school.
South Gloucestershire Council held a ballot for seats on two other services which serve Winterbourne Academy, the 459 from Emersons Green via Bromley Heath and the 427 from Frenchay.
The council funds places for children who are entitled to free school transport and allows other families to pay for their children to use any surplus seats. But there were 107 applications for 78 places, leaving 29 children without a place on either bus.
Parents met with Dave Baker, the chief executive of Olympus Academy Trust, which runs Winterbourne Academy, on September 11 to discuss possible ways forward.
Campaigner Libby Rogers said: “Winterbourne are in talks with South Gloucestershire Council for the 458 route to be reinstated but were wanting reassurance about the number of parents that would pay the £209 per term fee for the year.
“They have further meetings with the council about this and we await the outcome.
“As parents it is frustrating that gathering this information has taken so long and we are anxious about when a decision will be made. We also remain extremely concerned about the long term sustainability of these routes, and do not want to be in the same incredibly stressful situation again next year.”
A spokesperson for Olympus Academy Trust said: “We had a positive meeting with parents.
“We need to gather more data before we can commit to a bus service as it has to be financially viable. We are actively working on this.”
A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council said: “We remain committed to exploring alternative solutions with Winterbourne Academy, the West of England Combined Authority as the local transport authority, and bus operators for those who weren’t offered a space.”
WECA did not respond to a request for a comment.