Council U-turn over canal towpath school route

A school will continue to get free school transport after its local authority dropped suggestions that children could walk to school alongside a canal instead.

The proposal angered some parents in Weston Rhyn, Shropshire, who argued the canal towpath was not safe.

Shropshire Council has now promised to carry out a review of suggested walking routes to St Martin's School and of its "unsafe walking routes" policy as a whole.

The authority had argued that because the canal-side route existed, the offer of free school transport was not needed; but after agreeing to the review, a spokesperson said no changes would be made before September 2027.

Children in Weston Rhyn have been given free bus transport for almost 40 years to avoid them having to cross a busy roundabout on the A5, which sits between the village and St Martin's.

Routes between the two were considered unsafe for children walking to school.

Parents in Weston Rhyn were unhappy earlier this year when the authority said it was removing free bus travel as 1.2 miles (1.9km) of canal had been reassessed and considered safe.

When they raised the issue, the Liberal Democrat leader of the authority, Heather Kidd, said the decision was taken without political oversight.

She promised to get the decision overturned and to change council processes to make sure there was not a repeat.

Last week, a Reform UK councillor, Carl Rowley, who represents St Martin's, raised the issue again at a full council meeting, but his motion to declare all canal towpaths unsafe was defeated.

On Tuesday the council wrote to the school's head teacher and said a reassessment of the walking route would be carried out by an independent assessor.

As a result, a spokesperson said nothing would change for the 2026-27 academic year and children could continue to apply for and receive free school transport.

The letter apologised "for any distress caused" and said the review of the current unsafe walking routes policy would take place, taking evidence from other authorities.

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