Agenda item

In accordance with article 4 of this minute, the Committee heard the following deputations:

(A)         The Committee received a deputation from Ms Lesley-Anne Yeats, Walker Road Parent Council.

Ms Yeats advised of the Walker Road Parent Council’s participation to date in the consultation events regarding the school and that throughout this period they had continuously campaigned for it to be recognised that from their view the only safe route to Lochside Academy from Torry was free, dedicated transport.

She referred to Section 51 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 which stated “make arrangements for the provision of school transport for pupils attending their schools and to have regard to the safety of those pupils” and therefore the Parent Council was of the view that the Council had a duty of care to provide free transport from Torry to Lochside Academy.

She went on to advise of their concerns regarding the safety ofthe proposed safe walking route from Torry and advised that in order to address these concerns, the Parent Council wished the Committee to:

1.            Approve Free Transport to Lochside Academy from Torry;

2.            Request amendments to further investigate that free bus provision whether it be through:

a)        a dedicated service; or

b)        fully supported service picking up all Torry children within the community and dropping off within the school grounds; and

3.            Request an amendment to further investigate available funding to ensure the accessibility of the school and community facilities outwith the proposed recommended 7am-6pm bus pass provision.

(B)       The Committee received a deputation from by Ms Julie Pose, Chair of the Charleston Primary School Parent Council.

Ms Pose advised of concerns regarding the safety of the proposed walking route to the new Academy from Cove, advising that she did not consider that a reasonable or safe walking route had been identified.  In particular she highlighted the concerns the Parent Council had for pupils crossing the dual carriageway and stated that they did not accept that the central reservations available were sufficient.  In this regard she referred to the safe walking and cycling route which was agreed by the Planning Development Management Committee in 2015, wherein the addition of a toucan crossing on Wellington Road was agreed, including the said route along the A956 dual carriageway along which there were no safety barriers other than at the Sainsbury's junction.  She did not believe that this was either reasonable or safe as a designated safe route for children to walk or cycle along at any time.  She also highlighted that Cove children would need to cross a crossing which did not currently exist and therefore had not been tested as fit for purpose and walk along the A956 which had no safety barriers along its entire length other than at its junctions.  Therefore, she felt that Cove parents would have to hope that the route would be safe for their children and she did not believe that this was acceptable.

She then referred to Section 3.3.6 of the report which stated that authorities had a duty to carry out school education functions in a way which was designed to reduce inequalities of outcome for those pupils experiencing them as a result of socio-economic disadvantage.  She explained that in her view excluding Cove families from the possibility of any free bus transport was creating inequality rather than addressing it and that she felt this was very unfortunate given the work between the current catchment schools to create a collective and inclusive transition for all of the future pupils of Lochside Academy.  Also in respect of Section 51 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 which stated that authorities could charge parents for using school transport if they felt that the charge could be paid by the parent without undue hardship, she felt that there was an assumption that all parents in the Cove area would not experience the undue hardship that all parents in Torry and Kincorth would.

She also questioned whether the distance to walk for the children living at the far coast end of Cove, where the distance to school was much greater than those children living in Charleston, and the crossing of Wellington Road had been taken into consideration.

(C)       The Committee received a deputation from Mr Andy Finlayson.

Mr Finlayson advised of his concerns regarding the identified safe walking route for pupils from Cove attending Lochside Academy, in particular highlighting his continued concerns for the safety of children crossing the A956 dual carriageway.  In his view the current proposal was not acceptable and he explained why he did not feel that the proposed traffic management measures were sufficient.

In light of his concerns for the safety of pupils walking from Cove to the new Academy, Mr Finlayson requested that the Committee agree as a part of the safe walking route for pupils from Cove attending Lochside Academy to provide an overbridge or underpass for the crossing of Wellington Road and instruct officers to report to the appropriate Committee for consideration of the implementation of this measure.

(D)       With reference to article 12 of the minute of the meeting of the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure Committee of 29 August 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Education and Children’s Services which (a) set out options for providing subsidised or free transport to school for pupils attending the new Lochside Academy from August 2018; and (b) presented a report on the outcomes of a feasibility study regarding safe walking routes to the school.

The report recommended –

that the Committee

(a)          note that the Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment would proceed to implement an at-grade Toucan crossing over the A956 Wellington Road, as originally stipulated in the planning consent, as it was the most suitable option in terms of providing a safe route to the new Lochside Academy for pupils, and to endorse this measure for their interest;

(b)          in order to support the transition to the new school, approve Option 2a in the report, to provide free-of-charge transport (using public transport services) to the new Lochside Academy, for pupils living in Torry and Kincorth only (i.e. those pupils whose home address included one of the Torry or Kincorth postcodes listed at Appendix 4), to take effect from August 2018 and initially for a period of three years, subject to approval of the appropriate funding by the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee;

(c)          subject to approval of the required funding of option 2 by the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee: (1) approve the total estimated expenditure per annum (as detailed in the exempt appendix) for a maximum period of three years as detailed in the report; (2) delegate authority to the Interim Head of Planning and Sustainable Development following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to undertake a tender process for the procurement and thereafter award of a contract for the delivery of a supported bus service to operate between Deeside Brae, Leggart, Balnagask and Lochside Academy, from August 2018; and (3) delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to conclude a contract with the successful bidder;

(d)          refer the financial implications of the above recommendation (b) (as detailed in the exempt appendix) to the next meeting of the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee, in order to seek approval from that Committee for the allocation of the appropriate budget to support the agreed arrangements for pupil transport to the new school, to commence from August 2018 and initially for a period of three years; and

(e)          instruct the Head of Policy, Performance and Resources to undertake a review of the arrangements for subsidised transport to Lochside Academy after three years of its operation, and subsequently to present a report to the appropriate Committee with any necessary recommendations for ending or changing these arrangements.

The Committee resolved:

(i)            to approve recommendation (a) and (d) as contained in the report;

(ii)          in order to support the transition to the new school, to approve Option 2a as detailed in the report with the addition of the provision of a supported bus service between Cove and Lochside Academy with pupils paying a fare to use the service to take effect from August 2018 and initially for a period of 3 years subject to approval of appropriate funding by the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee and to instruct the Interim Head of Planning and Sustainable Development to report to the appropriate Committee on the proposed fare to be paid by pupils from Cove for approval;

(iii)         to note the concerns of parents from Torry, Kincorth and Cove expressed at the consultation meetings about the safety of pupils leaving service buses at stops on Wellington Road rather than on the quieter Wellington Circle and therefore instruct the Interim Head of Planning and Sustainable Development to discuss such adjustments to the routes of service buses 3/3G, 18 and the new supported public services detailed in (iv) below as were necessary to ensure that Lochside Academy pupils were dropped off on Wellington Circle (or in the schools grounds if appropriate) at the start of the school day and picked up from Wellington Circle (or in the schools grounds if appropriate) at the end of the normal school day and to report back on the outcome of those discussions to the appropriate Committee;

(iv)         subject to approval of the required funding of amended Option 2a as detailed in (ii) above by the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee to (1) approve the total estimated expenditure per annum (as detailed in the exempt appendix as amended to include the costs of the supported bus service between Cove and Lochside Academy) for a period of 3 years as detailed in the report (2) delegate authority to the Interim Head of Planning and Sustainable Development following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to undertake a tender process for the procurement and thereafter award for the delivery of a supported bus service to operate between Deeside Brae, Leggart, Balnagask and Lochside Academy from August 2018 and (3) delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to conclude a contract with the successful bidder;

(v)          to note the concerns expressed by Cove parents during the consultation meetings about the safety of the identified safe routes to school for the approximately 265 Cove Lochside Academy pupils;

(vi)         to instruct the Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment to carry out a study and option appraisal and budget analysis for the following measures in respect of safe walking routes to school for pupils residing in Cove and to report the outcome to the appropriate Committee to ensure that these works, if approved, were implemented prior to the opening of Lochside Academy:

(a)          Puffin crossing at an estimated cost of £30-35k[1] on Cove Road to ensure the safety of pupils crossing this road with the location of the crossing determined in consultation with local Elected Members, Parent Councils and the Community Council;

(b)          Puffin crossing in the vicinity of Langdykes Road at an estimated cost of £30-35k1to ensure the safety of pupils crossing this road with the location of the crossing determined in consultation with local Elected Members, Parent Councils and the Community Council;

(c)          Investigate the adoption of the land between Charleston Drive and Charleston Crescent and the subsequent upgrading and lighting of the footpath at an estimated cost of £30-35k1 (works only not inclusive of the purchase of any land) as a route away from vehicular traffic for pupils to use travelling to and from the new Lochside Academy;

(d)          Resolve drainage issues, and delivery of upgraded lighting, on South Loirston Road as an identified safe route to the New Lochside Academy at an estimated cost of £25k1 (street lighting only);

(e)          Consider the installation of barriers between the pavement and road on Wellington Road, between Souter-Head Roundabout and the junctions of both Charleston Road North and Wellington Circle.

(vii)        to note the concerns expressed by parents in Torry, Kincorth and Cove about speeding on roads identified as safe walking routes to Lochside Academy and further note that enforcement of speeding restrictions was the responsibility of Police Scotland;

(viii)      to instruct the Head of Education and Inclusion to facilitate a meeting between representatives of the parent councils in Kincorth, Torry and Cove with appropriate representatives from Police Scotland to provide a greater understanding of the community concerns about speeding on the safe routes to Lochside Academy and discuss the measures that could be taken to address those concerns and to report back to the appropriate Committee on the outcomes from that meeting;

(ix)         to instruct the Head of Education and Inclusion to provide support to Lochside Academy’s six associated group primary schools to ensure appropriate road safety programmes were in place in those schools for P4-7 prior to Lochside Academy opening in August 2018 and to report back to the appropriate Committee on the need for additional road safety programmes in the associated group primaries thereafter;

(x)          to agree that it was not the Committee’s view that a suitable safe walking route had been identified for pupils from Torry;

(xi)         to instruct the Interim Head of Planning and Sustainable Development to concurrently enter into discussions with bus providers with a view to re-routing services in Torry to ensure that pupils were picked up from safe locations and to report back on the outcome of the discussions to the appropriate Committee;

(xii)        to instruct the Interim Head of Planning and Sustainable Development and Head of Policy, Resources and Performance to enter into discussions with the school Senior Management Team to ascertain whether the bus pass should be valid beyond the current hours of 07:00 to 18:00 to ensure pupil access to school related extra-curricular activities – with a report to be submitted to the next meeting of Education and Children’s Services Committee;

(xiii)      to instruct the Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment to upgrade, as per planning conditions, the path which runs from the south end of Boyd Orr Avenue in a south east direction to Redmoss Road (noted as Core Path 82 on page 122 of the report) to improve the safe walking route from the southern end of Kincorth;

(xiv)      to request the Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment to report to the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure Committee for approval to undertake the necessary legal process to implement a loading ban in Wellington Circle to ensure traffic restrictions were in place between Lochside Academy and Wellington Road; and

(xv)        to instruct the Interim Head of Planning and Sustainable Development and the Head of Public Infrastructure and Environment to undertake annual updates reviewing the success of the provision of the free bus travel and the safe routes to school, with the first review to be end undertaken in March 2019 and thereafter annually at the end of the third school term with the outcome of each review to be reported to the relevant Committee at the earliest possible opportunity prior to the end of the fourth school term each year.