Braes mum says Falkirk Council has not looked at environmental impact of changing school bus policy

Lindsey Porter, who lives in Maddiston, is fighting planned changes to free school bus travel that could see up to 33 routes being axed. If all of those routes are cut, it will affect around 1600 pupils, including many who currently pay to travel or use an under-22s pass.

Launching the consultation, Falkirk Council has said they believe removing the school buses will have a positive environmental impact as more pupils will walk or cycle to school.

But Lindsey is one of many parents who firmly believe the decision is more likely to lead to more parents taking their children to school by car, leading to even worse congestion outside schools.

And when she put in a Freedom of Information request to see what the environmental impact assessment was like, she was shocked to find out that no assessment had been done.

Lindsey said: “It’s pretty incredible really given the potential impacts of the proposal that no analysis has been undertaken. They are telling people that there will be more active travel and it will have a positive impact on the environment. Surely if they are claiming that as a benefit, they must have had some information leading to that conclusion.

“We as parents are saying, yes, you’re going to cut the carbon emissions from the buses but how many parents are now going to have to drive their kids to school? “It seems like they are talking about this as a benefit but they haven’t really sat down and thought about the consequences.”

Falkirk Council responded to Lindsey’s FOI saying: “There has been no environment impact assessment in relation to the current ongoing ‘Consultation on a Proposal to Change the Distance Criteria for Home to Schools Transport’ and no further information is available on this at this stage.

“A full and detailed assessment of the consultation responses, including the environment impacts raised, will be made available on the Falkirk Council website in the Consultation Report in the second half of April. All consultees that have provided an email address will be advised when it is published.”

Lindsey said: “The email says they will assess all the responses to the survey but the public are just giving a subjective response. Surely there should be some independent analysis?”

The council has also said that pupils will not be asked to walk along routes that are not safe. But parents say many of the routes will take pupils along busy roads with high volumes of traffic.

One mum took some pictures of the route that her children will have to travel, showing some of the hazards including a very narrow pavement, where flooding often occurs.

Falkirk Council has said that with a budget gap of £64 million over the next four years, it can no longer afford to provide services that go beyond statutory requirements.

It has also said that the legal responsibility for getting children to school lies with the parents and what they are proposing is still more generous than the statutory guidelines.

Falkirk Council has been approached for comment.