Mum's safety fears after row over free bus passes

A Yapton mother fears for the safety of her children if their free bus passes are withdrawn.

Tara Kingshott said her two daughters and a son would be unable to walk from their home to Westergate Community School every day in all weathers.

She is involved in a dispute with the county council's education department about the distance between her house in Tack Lee Road and the school.

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She believes that many other parents in Yapton will be watching her row with interest. The withdrawal of bus passes from her children would also mean many others in the village would suffer the same fate.

Miss Kingshott said: "I am fighting for my children to be able to go to school safely but I am sure that other mothers in the village are also anxious to know what is going to happen.

"If all the bus passes are withdrawn, it could affect the number of children going to Westergate. I have spoken to the head there and I know he is concerned about the situation and the children's safety."

Miss Kingshott (33) has been in dispute with the county council since last summer. Her oldest daughter, Shelby Kenney (13), had been using a bus pass for the previous year but it seemed her younger sister, Cody Kenney, (12) would be refused one.

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The county council said a re-assessment of the route between their home and the school showed it was 2.92 miles '“ or a few hundred yards shorter than the three mile qualifying distance for a free pass.

Both Shelby and Cody did eventually receive passes '“ though Miss Kingshott said she had never been told the official situation '“ but she fears they will not have their passes renewed in September when her youngest child, Kobe Kenney (10), will start at Westergate.

"It will cost me about 1,000 a year to pay for all three of them to go by bus to Westergate," said Miss Kingshott. "I can't afford that.

"It's not fair to let children walk that distance. The council has never put it in black and white to me what the route is that they expect the children to take."

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But an assessment for one of her friends uses the main roads through Yapton and Barnham to Westergate as one suggestion.

The other ends in Church Lane and along a footpath to the community school.

"Church Lane has no footpath and is badly lit," Miss Kingshott explained. "I've driven from my home to the school and it is over three miles.

"I don't know how the boundary for the free bus passes has suddenly changed. And if the county council has changed it once, what's to stop them changing it again?"

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A county council spokesman said: "As part of a review, it was discovered that some houses in Yapton are within the three mile distance beyond which children become entitled to free transport.

"If Miss Kingshott has any children at the school already, it is more than likely that we would not renew their ticket.

"However, we would give Miss Kingshott notice of this.

"We recognise her disappointment but we cannot perpetuate any errors from the past or create new ones. "In particular we must be fair to all concerned, including all other parents who live just within the three mile limit and whose children do not receive help."

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