A PARENT has raised concerns about the safety and length of routes pupils in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) will have to walk when they lose free school transport in September.
Sarah Miles and her husband live in Trehafod and they have two children in mainstream education. One attends Porth Community School and for the past three years has been granted a bus pass.
But now, due to changes approved by RCT council, Sarah says her daughter will not be entitled to free transport from September as they live within a three-mile radius of the school .
The change means that only secondary and post-16 students living three miles or more from their school or college receive free school transport, with the 1.5-mile distance remaining unchanged for primary school pupils.
Sarah said both walking routes to her child’s school take just under an hour for an adult and is concerned about their safety.
She said: “We were made aware in recent years that there were plans to review the transport policy for secondary schools and were given an opportunity to engage in the consultation process, of which we did – highlighting some major parental concerns in respect of pupil safety, however to no avail.”
Sarah added: “There is no option to purchase a seat on the school bus either – they have removed school transport within Trehafod in its entirety. There is also no option to appeal the decision.”
She said a school walking route assessment was carried out but claims the report raised more questions than answers. She called the decisions “ridiculous” and “unjust” and said children’s voices have not been listened to.
She said repeated visits were made to various sites on route to monitor traffic, claiming: “I can only presume that repeated visits enabled the data collectors to manipulate the data to fit their criteria.”
Sarah said one of the site visits was carried out on a Saturday and statistics were only collected over a four-month period from September to January, which she says is not a true reflection of the academic year.
She also said the footway is closed along the A4058 (Britannia) due to wall repairs with no sign of completion, meaning children are expected to walk an alternative temporary route along a railway track.
Sarah said :”My first concern is how long would this temporary route be in place for, until it is classed as a permanent change? I have seen no sign of any action in terms of repairing the retaining wall since it was first out of use approximately two years ago.”
Regarding the “temporary” route along the railway track and river, she said this is “absolutely ludicrous”.
“Our daughter is not allowed along that route in her recreational time, as I do not feel it is safe at all for a child,” Sarah said.
“It is remote, isolated and does not have any lighting or CCTV footage. Children would be expected to walk through an underpass below the A4058, with low railings next to a fast flowing river.
“Both routes above encompass a considerable elevation and whilst this may not be an issue returning home, the children will be expected to overcome this on their journey to school (not taking into account weather conditions, heavy bags etc).”
Sarah also said both routes are 2.1 and 2.4 miles respectively, and can take up to 56 minutes to walk for an adult, with children also having to carry their belongings.
“School starts at 8.40am, meaning that children would have to leave the house around 7.30am at the latest and in the winter months it will still be dark,” she said.
“With no lighting along the temporary route alongside the railway track/river, this is unsafe.
“At present, our daughter takes a considerable amount of belongings to school on a daily basis. These include her school bag, coat, umbrella, packed lunch, stationary, PE kit and cooking ingredients.
“In September, she will also have her art portfolio for her GCSEs as well as any text books. Given these recent changes, she will be expected to carry all of this to and from school in all weathers.
“The school does not provide lockers or cloakrooms either, so if our daughter was affected by the rain/storms etc, she would have to sit in her wet clothes all day before carrying everything home again. Also, wet clothes and belongings weigh more.”
She calculated the children are expected to make multiple journeys across busy roads to and from school not including side streets, and says there are at least 10 crossings which take a child across a major road on the proposed “safe” route.
Sarah added of these 10 crossings, there are only three which include traffic lights and two that have zebra crossings.
“I am well aware that cars do not always stop at traffic lights or zebra crossings, having experienced multiple near misses as a pedestrian in recent years around the Porth area,” she said.
“Both my husband and I work full time and are unable to provide transport to/from school for our daughter. This means that walking is her only option.
“I am aware that there is public transport however no buses or trains go directly to the school. Also, the trains are unreliable at the best of times and in the event of transport being cancelled/delayed, there would be no one at home to ensure that she got to school safely and on time.
“In addition, the Rhondda is a deprived area and this situation will only encourage parents to not work and/or children to not attend school.”
She said their son will be in year seven in September 2027 and as his birthday is late August he would have only just turned 11 in the week or so prior to the start of term.
Sarah added: “How on earth can anyone deem it safe and responsible to enforce an 11-year-old child to walk over two miles to school alone?
“This is in addition to all of the points that I have made above regarding the concerns about lighting, remoteness, road safety etc.
“I appreciate that RCT council needs to make cut backs, however I do not believe that our children’s safety should be put at risk in order to do this.
“If anything does happen to a child whilst walking these ‘safe’ routes, then the government will have blood on their hands.”
An RCT council spokesperson said: “Following an extensive consultation period, in March 2024 the council’s cabinet approved amendments to its school transport policy, aligning to the Welsh Government statutory walking distance for secondary schools and colleges of three miles.
“Even with these changes, Rhondda Cynon Taf council will still provide a more generous home to school transport policy than many other councils.
“It was agreed to continue providing transport for primary schools beyond the statutory distance and provide transport for post-16 education learners living over three miles from their place of learning.
“Over 6,000 learners will continue to receive transportation that they would not be eligible for under Welsh Government guidance meaning RCT will still have one of the most generous home to school transport policies in Wales.
“This decision was taken in response to significant increases in costs for delivering this service and reduced funding made available to local government over the last thirteen years.
“The walking routes to schools have been reviewed independently and re-assessed using the criteria laid down by the Welsh Government statutory guidance for the risk assessment of walked routes to school.
“These assessments have been undertaken independently by an external organisation, and those findings published on the council’s website.
“Routes deemed unsafe will continue to qualify for free transport, regardless of distance.”
