THE councillors who have been campaigning against Benarty pupils having to walk the busy B920 to Lochgelly High School were happy with the decision taken last week by the Fife Council education and children's services committee.

A new policy for assessing Walked Routes to School was last Tuesday agreed in principle and the committee took the additional step of requesting further detailed examination by the council’s Scrutiny Committee before the final wording is signed-off by councillors at the Education and Children’s Services Committee’s next meeting.

The agreement follows a full consultation with parents, pupils and others with an interest, including local councillors, but any changes to existing routes that might result from the policy’s implementation would not take effect until August 2020.

Councillors Lea McLelland and Rosemary Liewald were alarmed at the walk to school route from Benarty to Lochgelly High which would run from around Ballingry Crescent, in Ballingry, and involve more than 120 pupils walking the busy B920 and insisted that the current arrangements, which allow bus transport to LHS, be continued.

Convener of the Education and Children's Services Committee, Cllr Fay Sinclair said: “Fife Council was told it must implement a consistent walked route to school policy several years ago and the policy developed has been shaped following a wide-ranging consultation, numerous drop in sessions and public meetings, and many routes being walked with elected members, parents and pupils.

“The report that was brought to us has taken into account a lot of comments and concerns which were raised throughout that process, and I hope will allay some of the fears that parents have about any potential changes.

“There was consensus that the council must have a policy for walked routes to school that is robust, consistent and fair for all school pupils across Fife, and I am pleased to be making progress on that."

In Fife, all children who live more than a mile from their catchment primary school, or two miles from their catchment secondary school automatically, receive free transport. That will continue to be the case.

Children who live closer to their school than a mile and two miles respectively, have to make their own way to school.

The new policy will be used only to look at routes where children don't live far enough away to automatically qualify for free transport. There are currently almost 1,000 children receiving free transport who don't qualify but have historically been given free transport because it was felt there was no appropriate route to walk. These are the routes which will be re-assessed using the new policy as a clear guide.

Cllr Sinclair continued: "It is right that routes should be looked at again. Once finalised, the new policy would mean that all routes will be judged in the same way and all children are treated fairly and equally."

The routes will all be re-assessed in winter and in summer and no changes will be made to existing transport until August 2020, to give families time to adjust.

A review process will also be introduced for individual routes where an assessment is disputed and elected members will be part of that process.

Councillors McLelland and Liewald said after Wednesday's Cowdenbeath Area Committee that they were happy at this stage that the Scrutiny Committee was now to deal with the matter and that nothing would be in place until August 2020.