Warwick parents concerned about children getting to school after service cut after 'running for more than 30 years'

Parents and guardians in Warwick are growing concerned about how their children will get to school now a bus service that has run for more than 30 years has been withdrawn.

Warwickshire County Council (WCC) has withdrawn the 529 bus service, which runs along the route from the Woodloes to Aylesford School.

Residents say this service has been running for more than 30 years and now it has been cancelled, it has left many parents concerned about how their children will get to Aylesford School.

Jessica Goulding, who lives in the Woodloes area, has a son starting year 7 at Aylesford School in September.

She said: "The 529 service, which has run for over 30 years, has been cancelled by Warwickshire County Council.

"We choose Aylesford School because we knew the bus service was reliable and so we had no worries about how our children will get to school when we applied.

"I applied for the bus pass on the first date of the bus pass applications in June.

"The council told us our application was rejected with no reason, I still did not know it had been terminated at this point.

"WCC in the letter asked parents to contact Stagecoach to apply for a bus pass - it read as if it was Stagecoach's fault that it was cancelled.

"I have since found out that the 529 bus service has nothing to do with Stagecoach, but Hanson coaches, which were hired by WCC.

"Many Aylesford parents may still not know about the cancelled bus service.

"The council told me that there are currently no plans to reintroduce the service as they do not have the budget to provide a 'compliant vehicle'.

"I am not angry, I am worried and concerned for the children. Especially for the year 7 children who are only 11 years of age.

"WCC have commented on letters mentioning that my son is a non-entitled traveller.

"I am not concerned if he gets 'free' travel - I was and am always willing to pay.

"The concern was never about the money so for WCC to mention this throughout the letter shows money and funds is jeopardising children's safety here.

"I have also found out every year they try to cancel the service and parents have had a fight to keep it.

"Now WCC have managed to actually cancel the service, very quietly in the background of a pandemic."

Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western, said: "I’m concerned about the loss of this bus service between the Woodloes and Aylesford school, which I know many parents and pupils rely on.

"It’s important to the wider community too.

“I’m working with residents and councillors to resolve this situation.

"I’ve written to the county council, urging them to step in and help save the route.

"We have seen countless reductions in local bus services over the last decade, which need to be reinstated and I’ll continue working to save and drastically improve our local bus network.

“The more we use public transport, the better for our town centres through reduced congestion and better air quality.”

A spokesperson for Warwickshire County Council said: "We have had to take the decision to withdraw bus service 529 which runs along the route from Woodloes to Aylesford School due to the introduction of the new Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVR).

"These regulations stipulate that if we are to sell tickets to paying customers on a school bus, this has to be compliant with the most recent accessibility regulations.

"Unfortunately, the vehicle that operates that service is not compliant.

"We have attempted to source a compliant vehicle however these are proving very costly and would render the service financially non-viable.

"Whenever a change is made to a bus service that affects travel to and from school, we write to parents to make them aware.

"Parents of pupils who would have been affected by this change were notified on March 13 2020, in accordance with our policy which is to provide three calendar months notice.

"School pupils travelling from Woodloes to Aylesford have the option to travel on an existing Stagecoach service (Service 1) which then connects to a number of other services at Warwick Bus Station (X18, 15 and 16)."