Mother ‘scared’ while testing Molesey to Esher school walking route

A mother said she was “scared” testing out the walking route to school proposed by a council after it said some children would no longer be eligible for free transport.

Surrey County Council (SCC) told the parents of 81 children from West Molesey that free buses to Esher High School would be ending after it had identified a safe walking route of less than three miles (5km).

Parent Plamena Naydenova, who tested the route in “broad daylight”, said she was “scared” and that it was “dangerous, muddy and isolated”.

SCC told parents in a letter the route “was found to be safe” by its safer travel team, explaining it “considers road safety of a walked route by an accompanied child”.

Children who live more than three miles (5km) from their nearest school are eligible for free buses.

The new route, across the heath and beside the River Mole, brings the distance down to just under that mark, meaning this group no longer qualifies for the service.

Ms Naydenova added: “The walk took 83 minutes, which I think is unacceptable for children to walk twice a day.”

Fellow parent Kate Maxwell added: “I have walked it in the past and felt very unsafe as an adult, so I have no idea how that could be considered safe for a child to do.

“I believe it to be actually quite dangerous. There’s parts of the heath where you lose network coverage.”

SCC, which said it spent about £65m a year on school transport, said local authorities are “not legally obliged to provide free transport just because parents perceive the route to be unsafe on the grounds of personal safety and security”.

It told parents that case law said assessments “must look at the relationship between pedestrians and traffic only”.

Councillor Clare Curran, cabinet member for education, has previously said: “We are not suggesting that families have to use this route to get to school; they are welcome to use other independent routes or transport methods.”