THE PROPOSAL BY Shropshire County Council that pupils from a school should use a towpath instead of being given transport has been defeated.
With parents arguing that the canal towpath was unsafe, Janet Friend reports.
Use towpath instead
The children had been taken to St.Martin's School in Weston Rhyn by the side of the Shropshire Union Canal for nearly 40 years, but the council wanted to save on transport costs and have the children walk along its towpath instead.
The council had argued that because the canal towpath route existed, the use of free school transport was not needed. But not only does this entail using the towpath but also the children crossing the busy A5.
But parents believed the routes between the two were considered unsafe for children walking to school, and were worried when the authority told it was removing free bus travel because 1.2 miles (1.9km) of canal had been considered safe.
Being unsafe
But after all the complaints of the towpath being unsafe, not only in inclement weather that could cause a child slipping into the canal and also the many attacks being recorded, the council backed down.
As a result, nothing would change for the 2026-27 academic year and children could continue to apply for and receive free school transport and the letter from the council apologised for any distress caused.