Minutes:
The following requests to speak had been agreed:
Item 7: Councillor Johnston; Councillor Purse; Councillor Gray; Ian Domville; Jacqueline Cook.
Councillor Johnston, commented that as a newly returned Councillor he had not been consulted and the implications of the consultation document had not been made clear. He drew attention to issues in his Division and felt that the proposals were flawed and needed a complete rethink particularly around the lack of links with transport to catchment areas.
Councillor Purse agreed that the consultation had not been clear and that some people did not realise it affected them and others were worried unnecessarily. She was concerned that rural communities would be hardest hit. She expressed particular concern over Wheatley Park School where she was a governor. She was aware of the very good work it did with feeder schools and worried that this would be affected by the changes. She queried the information about Collaborative Learning Partnerships. Finally she referred to the safe walking routes and commented that there should be some allowance for certain circumstances. Responding to a query from Councillor Waine she added that the Road Safety GB Guidelines were proposed as the criteria for a safe walking route but that there were sometimes other local factors and common sense had to be applied.
Councillor Gray queried why an issue that was so important to people had been brought forward so early in the new Council term. He made 3 main points: who was putting forward the proposals as he had been unable to find out who they had come from; assessing routes against guidelines would not make unsafe routes safe and what was the impact on the Council’s reputation of putting these proposals forward.
Ian Domville as a local parent of a child at Wallingford School but not directly affected by the proposals commented that the main concern was safety. He referred to attempts to change rules to reduce the ability to appeal on safety grounds and highlighted cases at Benson and Cholsey that parents had won on appeal. He commented that it was ludicrous to suggest adults will accompany children. He further felt that the Road Safety GB Guidelines should be publically available and locally highlighted the Thames Path that would be flooded for 2-3 months each year and asked how that was considered under the Guidelines. He referred to the impact of the changes on schools. Finally he recognised that there were financial constraints on the Council but felt that there were alternatives to the proposal and that head teachers and governing bodies be involved in discussions about alternative means of provision.
Jacqueline Cook, a parent with a child at John Mason School and another due to start in 2014 stated that she had been involved in the Drayton Transport appeals which had been lost by the authority. She spoke against the proposal to reassess all “unsafe walking routes” from September 2014 using the guidance issued by Road Safety GB and referred to the wider advice issued by the Department for Education guidance. She highlighted paragraphs 76 and 77 of the proposals which would make appeals ineffectual.
At this point it was agreed to vary the order of the agenda to take the Home to School Policy as the next item.