Ashford parents launch school bus petition due to safety fears
Parents and campaigners worried about children’s safety have launched a petition to secure a bus service for a new secondary school
Chilmington Green School, near Ashford, which opened in 2023 to serve the expected housing growth in the area, has no public transport links.
Activists say the ‘safe’ walking route is too long for some students, poorly-lit in parts, impractical and potentially dangerous, particularly on winter evenings.
The petition was started by Andrea Taylor-Harris and Adele Naughton, who live three miles away at Singleton.
It calls on Kent County Council (KCC) to work with local transport providers to assess demand and introduce a parent-paid bus service to the school.
The women argue that for working families, accompanying their children on the journey is “often impossible” and means they must make alternative arrangements such as lift-sharing or hiring private taxis.
Mrs Naughton, who has a wheelchair-bound son, said:
“We’re not looking for a free bus service. The parents are happy to pay, we just would like KCC to make it happen.”
Campaigners say a twice daily service would provide safe and reliable journeys; remove the need for pupils to walk long distances and reduce the traffic congestion around the school particularly when the school hits its capacity of 1,100 in a few years time.
Mrs Naughton added:
“Don’t get me wrong, the school is really great and the kids seem to love it but we know that this is a source of frustration for the school’s leaders.
“This problem will only get worse as it grows and grows.”
Conservative Kent county councillor Bill Barrett, who represents a division in the school’s catchment, said Chilmington Green School may be one of the very few in the county without a bus service.
He said:
“We need a bus service here because the walking route is not safe, in my view, even though it has passed the KCC designated ‘safe’ tests. I don’t believe, nor do the parents, that it is safe enough for 11 and 12 year old boys and girls to get to this remote site.
“What brand new secondary school in Kent does not have a bus stop anywhere nearby? That’s the problem.”
Mrs Taylor-Harris, who lives at Singleton Hill, said:
“I walked the safe route with my husband when it was first announced and it is about three miles. This was in the autumn and there was no lighting in some parts or no path in others, sometimes in a 40mph zone.
“By the time we got to the school, it was dark and I had to get my brother to come and pick us up. Everything about it wasn’t safe.
“They just cannot expect children as young as 11 to walk this on their own, so we need a bus service.”
The problem was compounded in March this year when the developer behind a 5,750 home ‘garden town’ went into administration, throwing promised key infrastructure in the area into doubt.
Hodson Developments and four associated companies were placed in the hands of the administrators after it failed to avoid more than £50m in agreed contributions to the scheme.
Serious questions have been raised whether the £30m dualling of the A28 will happen.
So far, only 400 houses have been built as well as the secondary school and a nearby primary.
Cllr Barrett claimed KCC – in charge of highways and transport for Kent – and the planning authority Ashford Borough Council (ABC) “seem to be blaming one another”.
He added: “That doesn’t help the parents get the bus service they clearly need.”
Parent Tyrone Lowery, 48, who works as an artist and carer, has a 12-year-old son and grandchildren at the school, said: “We have been told ‘yes, yes, yes’ that we’ll get the bus and then it doesn’t happen.
“I had to borrow money to buy the car to get here. The kids here are getting to that point that they want their independence, not being picked up at the gates by their parents, although, of course, I don’t mind doing it.”
KCC Reform UK Cllr Nick Wibblerley said:
“I don’t think it is acceptable for a child to have to walk along grass verges in a 40mph zone and I think there is a real risk for a child’s safety, so that’s why the petition is needed to demonstrate that strength of feeling.”
A spokesperson for the school, part of the United Learning trust, said: “As we plan for the next academic year and the onset of autumn and winter we remain very concerned about the lack of public transport for our students.
“We have had an excellent first year in our new building and are quickly growing as an extremely popular school for local families.
“However, we do desperately need a working bus service to get children to and from school and to avoid them having to walk along grass verges on extremely busy roads”.
In a statement, KCC said it understands the “frustrations some parents feel” about access to the school.
“As part of the Chilmington Green development, funding was supposed to be provided by the developer to support transport services. Unfortunately, that subsidy has not yet been made available which has limited options.
“Bus services are run by private operators, and it is up to those companies to decide whether there is enough demand to make a route financially viable. We have spoken to operators, but no service has been confirmed at this stage.”
The walking route was twice assessed – in the morning and afternoon – by KCC’s Regulation Committee Appeal Panel and declared safe.
KCC added: “Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their children attend school and to make appropriate travel arrangements. We recognise that this can be challenging for some families and individual circumstances can be considered through the appeals process.
“While KCC cannot provide transport where there is no entitlement under the home-to-school transport policy, parents may wish to work together to arrange a privately funded coach service if there is enough demand.
“As the Chilmington Green housing development progresses, routes will continue to improve. While this is outside KCC’s control, we welcome these changes alongside families, schools, and the wider community.”
Ashford Borough Council said:
“We understand the frustration of residents and parents about the current lack of bus services serving the growing Chilmington Green community. Reliable public transport is essential for accessing schools, employment and other key services, and as the community expands it will be important for Kent County Council, as the highways and education authority, to consider and arrange appropriate bus provision.
"Ashford Borough Council’s role is as the local planning authority, so we do not have any direct involvement in bus provision for schools, however we hope to see suitable transport provided that meet the needs of this growing community delivered at Chilmington.”