Hopes were raised last night that an axed bus service that takes children to school in Ellon could be reinstated.
About two dozen furious parents gathered last night to demand Aberdeenshire Council rethinks its decision to axe a part-subsidised bus service within the town.
The service took pupils in the Knockothie and Castlepark areas of the town to Ellon and Auchterellon primary schools.
But last month the council announced the service was to be scrapped, as they subsidy they would have to pay rocketed from £30,000 to £59,660.
Parents have criticised the lack of consultation and notice about the decision, while also raising safety fears about the busy route their children would have to take to get to class and the increase in cars around the schools.
Last night a public meeting was held at the Ythan Centre to give parents and other concerned residents the chance to quiz council officers and local councillors.
Kathleen Lawson, who organised a petition that already has more than 500 signatures, accused the authority of not putting policy and cost-cutting before the safety of children.
Attendees heard that although there were two subsidised bus services in Ellon, the decision had been taken to axe the school service – which members of the public can also use – as it went against the guidelines of only providing transport for children living more than two miles from their school.
Ms Lawson, who has two primary aged children, said: “The Scottish Government say if there is no safe alternative route you can’t withdraw the service.
“This decision was made on figures rather than children. This is not about numbers or figures or policy, it’s about keeping our children safe.”
But it was nearly two hours into the meeting that the group discovered the other bus service, which was formerly subsidised, will run as a commercial venture – saving the authority £73,000 a year.
Many people questioned why the cash couldn’t be transferred over to the school service.
Mark Fraser urged officers to get round the table with operator Kinneil to discuss covering the school runs.
He added: “If they want to run a bus that doesn’t generate a lot of revenue to the driver but have opportunity to run a bus that does, it feels like there’s something to work with there.”
Stephen Archer, director of infrastructure services, vowed that his team would enter into discussions with the operator about offering the service, or at least changing the timetable to be more accommodating for school start and finish times.
The outcome of the negotiations will be reported back at Formartine area committee’s vacation meeting later this month, where questions raised about a risk assessment of the walking routes to the schools and other issues will also be discussed.