Parents in Penrith are up in arms following an announcement that a bus service which carries around 50 pupils to and from North Lakes School is being withdrawn.
Stagecoach has announced that from September it will no longer run the public bus service, which, campaigners claim, has been in operation for decades.
Penrith resident Emma Scantlebury, who is a mother of three, and is one of the parents leading the protest, has started a “save our school bus” petition.
“This will have a huge impact on families,” said Emma. “Parents rely heavily on the bus to get children to the infant school on time, to meet their work commitments, and many other reasons,” she said.
More than 330 people have signed Emma’s online petition in opposition to the move by Stagecoach.
On Thursday, Penrith and the Border MP Dr Neil Hudson told the Herald: “I am very supportive of this petition and I have contacted Stagecoach stressing the need for this service to continue and to work with the school to come to a solution. I will do what I can in my capacity as MP to ensure that the pupils of North Lakes can get to school safely and I hope that this will be resolved by the start of the next school term.”
The bus service currently costs parents £2 a day return fare for their children.
It is a public bus, but is used primarily for the school run and pupils are chaperoned on board by an adult, funded by North Lakes School.
The petition states: “Stagecoach are currently actively promoting a £2 fare offer to up the usage of their public transport, yet they are stripping it from a school community who are most in need of this service.
“If this affects you in any way, or if you just agree that this bus service should be saved, please sign up and help us to continue getting our children to school safely.”
Emma told the Herald this had been a public service which had been in use for the school for decades.
Emma, who was intending to send one of her three children to the school on the bus from September, said: “It is important to get them there on time.
“You have got parents that live at Townhead that don’t have a car. They are going to have to walk all that way, no matter what the weather.
“It is going to cause disruption to the school because it is going to cause lateness to classes, it is going to cause disruption to that child, they might be getting anxiety, thinking ‘am I going to be late’.”
Brunswick School’s gate opens after North Lakes. So if a parent had a pupil at both schools, they would have just five minutes to get from North Lakes to Brunswick School. “You can understand the stress,” said Emma. Penrith residents Scott and Emma Jackson will be North Lakes parents come September, with seven-year-old Charlotte moving up from Brunswick.
“My youngest, Rebecka, aged four, will also be starting Brunswick at the same time, making us the exact sort of family this will most affect. We’d be trying to be in two places at once — with one parent already at work by school opening a lot of the time.”
Scott, who is a town councillor, is looking to table a motion about the Stagecoach bus at a full meeting of the town council on 17th July.
The motion is set to ask the town council to write to Stagecoach expressing disappointment in the decision to withdraw the Number 2 service and offering to engage in dialogue to explore opportunities to continue the service.
It states: “A North Lakes survey of parents has received a record response, totalling roughly a quarter of the entire parental body and representing the vast majority, if not all, of the current users of the service. The survey respondents overwhelmingly supported the retention of the service.
“North Lakes is a junior school serving Years 3-6, situated in the south of Penrith. It is heavily fed by the graduating pupils of the infant school Brunswick, which serves Reception, Years 1 and 2 and is one of two schools serving northern Penrith.
“As a result, pupils in the north of the town going to Brunswick have a longer journey to school in the second half of their primary education.
“Families with multiple children of primary age may need to make a journey to two schools at almost the same time.”
Mr Jackson’s motion goes on to say that Penrith Town Council believes that school bus provision is of vital importance to the town.
He states: “The Number 2 bus ensures the viability of Penrith’s current primary school catchment landscape and the relationship between two schools in different areas of the town.
“The No.2 bus allows a considerable number of parents to negotiate the school run, of multiple children, and the morning commute; and that this reduces car journeys and congestion around North Lakes School to the benefit of school children and local residents.”
Sherylline Pereira said: “I appreciate the service provided by the stagecoach over the years and I am very grateful for that.
“It is very upsetting and scary to know that they are thinking of cancelling their service. Firstly I was so relaxed and had no stress that my child was safe on the bus. I could go to work without worrying and having a second thought about the safety of my child.
“I have a little child at home who I have to look after as well and we don’t have a car. I don’t know what I am going to do if they think of discontinuing their service. I am very concerned.”
Marie Gates, who works at Armstrong Watson accountants and has a son, Jamie, and daughter, Millie, said: “I rely on the school bus to enable me to get to work on time.
“Without the school bus I would have to use the breakfast club and after school club but this will have a big cost impact and still not allow me to work my full hours.
“It would be roughly £80 extra a month which is a significant amount when all other costs are rising.”
Mrs Michelle Radcliffe said: “Myself along with other parents rely on the Stagecoach bus to get our children to school, without this service I would be lost. I use the 104 service for work and the bus for North Lakes School arrives at a similar time so me and my daughter always get the bus together.
“I honestly don’t know what I will do without it.”
David Rich, head of commercial, Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire, said: “Service 2 is a commercial bus service operated by Stagecoach in Penrith.
“Unfortunately we had to inform North Lakes School at the start of May that we plan to withdraw the service at the end of the academic year.
“We believe this has given the schools an appropriate time for alternative arrangements to be made ahead of the new school year starting in September.
“It is a significantly longer notice period than we would usually give for service changes. The background to this situation is that there will be changes to the way we use our vehicles in Penrith this autumn due to revised school contracts that we will be operating on behalf of Westmorland and Furness Council.
“There are also changes to our Winter Lakes timetable to improve the reliability of our services.
“These changes mean the vehicle we currently use for Service 2 would not be available and we would therefore need an extra vehicle in our fleet to operate Service 2, incurring substantial additional fixed costs.
“Unfortunately, the revenue which Service 2 generates would not be able to cover these costs.
“We have informed the school of the level of funding required to continue to operate the service and could continue to operate the service if this funding could be found.”
To sign the online petition visit www.change.org/p/save-our-school-bus
