‘This could force us out of the Dales’ - Cuts to school transport in North Yorkshire could force families out of Dales, say campaigners

North Yorkshire Council is aiming to make £4m worth of savings from the new policy, which began to take effect in September.

Parents living in the Yorkshire Dales say the changes will mean sending their children over dangerous roads in poor weather to schools in Cumbria and County Durham.

They are now calling for more parents to join them in a campaign to get the council to overturn the policy, which has also been criticised by the Dales National Park Authority.

Most children living in the Upper Dales go to school in Richmond, but under the new policy they could be sent to school in Kirkby Stephen over the B6270, which parents say will be unsafe in poor weather.

Carol Livingstone, who lives in Keld with her two children, is one of the campaigners objecting to the policy.

She said: “We are not willing to be the guinea pigs for the implementation of this policy when we 100 per cent already know it will fail in our specific area.

“We have been backed into a corner of deciding between sending our children to the nearest school via an unsuitable route or being forced to pay to transport our children to their catchment school on the only suitable route.

“It is an accident waiting to happen.

“We don’t want to be able to choose any school we like – we are happy with one option, as long as it’s the sensible one.

“People have to live here. They have to work here, the community needs to stay. And for anyone coming to live here, there’s no way anyone sensible would consider it now if they’ve got children.”

The campaign group is urging council leaders to meet them in the Dales to take the proposed journey themselves.

A Richmond School governor has also warned that a drop in the number of pupils caused by the transport cuts will affect educational funding.

Ian Dawson, a former teacher at the school, said: “If the school loses 20 students per year, that’s £120,000 of income. That’s four teachers, averaging out salaries.

“You do that for five years and you won’t have a lot of staff left and the curriculum will shrink.

“The Dales is at risk of becoming a second-homes holiday camp.”

Fellow campaigner Charlotte Fowler, whose 10-year-old daughter will have to attend Wensleydale School instead of Richmond under the transport plans, said she is faced with a choice of either sending her child on roads she considers unsafe or giving up work to take her herself.

She said: “Our options are to move, pay for transport, or put your child on your unsafe route. They’ve left us over a barrel.

“This could split families up. There’s no joined-up thinking. The council are saying they’re going to use second-home tax money to build more houses – well, what for?”

Meanwhile, the headteacher of a Catholic school in West Yorkshire has hit out at plans to cut dedicated bus services, which he said are sparking “fear and anger” among parents.

Bradford City Council announced it was planning to end its funded routes to St Bede’s and St Joseph’s Catholic College.

A consultation launched earlier this month as part of planned savings of £40m for the cash-strapped local authority.

But furious parents have launched a petition to stop the cuts from going ahead, citing worries that they will have to transfer their children to non-faith based schools.

The coaches transport some 900 pupils to the school from across the Bradford district. Laurence Bentley, headteacher at the college, said: “St Bede’s and St Joseph’s draws students from every part of Bradford and the bus service is our lifeline.

“We save the council money in every respect, by offering the young people of Bradford not only a world-class education, but also outstanding welfare support tailored at those who need it most. I am concerned that a council which overspent on children’s services by £42.3m last year will put more pressure on that budget, just to save £200,000.

“As well as letting our children down, falling school attendance and a loss of school places will cost the council a lot more than £200,000.

“I hope that Bradford councillors are able to work this out before passing a huge own goal in their budget. We will certainly be making this point very strongly and urge them to reconsider this decision.”

And in Whitby, a father is appealing for a special educational needs (SEND) school to be opened in Whitby after his son lost his funded transport place.

Sean Kirk, 35, has launched a petition to convert the old Eskdale School, which closed earlier this year, into a SEND school.

Mr Kirk’s son Elijah, nine, has complex needs and is a pupil at Kilton Thorpe Specialist School in Redcar, a 40-minute commute away.

Elijah’s transport to school was in a taxi with two other children, financed by the council.

But earlier this month after seeing Elijah’s emotional state deteriorate following taxi journeys, Mr Kirk was told his place was being suspended due to behavioural issues.

Mr Kirk and his wife Charlene were faced with trying to balance full-time work with taking Elijah on two 80-minute round trips a day to school while waiting to hear if another taxi place has become available.

The council has since funded a new taxi service for Elijah.

According to Mr Kirk, the commute is “physically and psychologically taxing” for children as well as “constituting a substantial financial burden to the local authority.”

The petition has had nearly 1,000 signatures.

Mr Kirk said: “The travel ordeal, while physically and psychologically taxing, also constitutes a substantial financial burden to the local authority due to high transport costs – funds that might otherwise be reallocated to providing further and more effective services.”

Mr Kirk has estimated the cost to the council of transporting Elijah and his two fellow pupils to the school from Whitby is around £150,000 for a three-year contract.

North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for property services, Kerry Metcalfe, said: “While we do not comment on individual cases, there are no current plans for any special educational needs and disabilities provision on this site. We are still considering our options for the long-term.”

Bradford Council did not respond to a request for a comment.