Councillor attacks bus route decision

A SENIOR Harrogate councillor has demanded that North Yorkshire County Council looks into a decision to force more than a dozen children off a school bus unless their parents stump up hundreds of pounds each year.

The Yorkshire Post revealed last week that the county council, which needs to slash £1.6m off its annual £22m home to school transport budget, has told several households on the outskirts of Harrogate they are no longer eligible for free bus passes – obligatory for all families who live three miles away from schools – as council officials have recalculated the route.

Gregory Nickerson, who is blind in one eye, and twin brother Samuel who only has one kidney, both 12-year-old pupils at Rossett School, are among those affected. They will need to walk for more than an hour over a route encompassing a muddy path alongside unlit Killinghall Moor and down dark country lanes twice a day.

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Now Saltergate ward Councillor Don Mackenzie says he has spoken to nine other families who have been struck off and has demanded answers from the executive member for schools, Coun John Watson.

Coun Mackenzie said: “I do not think it is a safe route for children as young as 11 or 12 to walk alone on by any means.”

Meanwhile, Tory Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Andrew Jones, has condemned the council over a decision not to take action on speeding in the village of Calcutt, near Knaresborough. He said a recent survey showed one vehicle every three minutes was breaking the limit but nothing has been done.

A county council spokesman said: “If a route is assessed as safe to walk accompanied as necessary, we inform parents it is their responsibility to ensure that their child attends school and they are responsible for transport arrangements and costs.”

He added the Calcutt speed survey decision was made by the district’s community safety partnership – which includes the county council.