This week schools across Sevenoaks returned from the summer holiday. However, for many parents, whose children use the local school buses, I know the last few months have been incredibly stressful. I shared with you my huge disappointment in July after a local bus operator withdrew from most of their school bus routes, and have therefore been working hard throughout the summer with Kent County Council to support and secure a workable solution.
If you follow me on Facebook, you will know from my regular updates what has been happening, but for those who do not I wrote to the bus company to seek a full explanation for their actions and to understand what would be needed to ensure the continuation of as many of the routes as possible. I was in close and constant communication with Kent County Council to raise my urgent concerns and I’ve been in contact with the Department for Transport about sources of funding.
As the summer progressed, I was delighted that slowly but surely, alternative plans were found for each bus route. Most notably for Chronicle readers, the S bus routes and the TW1, TW3, TW4, TW6 and T3.
There remain some issues for children from Weald, Chipstead and the West side of Otford, plus some longer-term worries over the service from Dunton Green to Hugh Christie. But I continue to work on behalf of these parents to see what more can be done and will be providing updates as soon as I have them.
While I appreciate the Arriva bus strike caused several problems at the start of the first week back, I am very grateful to the officers in the Transport Department at Kent County Council for their hard work in recent weeks to find solutions, as well as Transport Cabinet member David Brazier and KCC leader (and local councillor) Roger Gough for tasking their officers to find replacement services to enable children to travel to school. County councillor Nick Chard has also put in a lot of hard work to help along the A25 corridor and the Knockholt area and I was pleased to meet with Nick, parents, and other councillors to see off the restored TW4 service on Tuesday.
The agreements reached on the S, T and TW routes will be in place for the whole of this school year. I will continue to follow developments closely, and please do get in touch with me at [email protected] if you are still concerned.
It is simple. Local children must be able to get to school, and when we work together, we are able to find solutions.
Finally, I could not let my column pass without acknowledging the other pressure and stress households across the constituency are facing, rising energy bills. I have been clear in my messages to Government that more support is urgently needed and with Liz Truss now in Downing Street I am hopeful the government will soon announce their plan for tackling this. As soon as I know more, I will be doing all I can to help both families, our public services, and our fantastic local businesses. Please follow my Facebook or visit my website for more information.
