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MEDIA RELEASES PROBLEMS WITH NEW BUS TIMETABLE Independent Candidate for the seat of Tamworth Peter Draper has successfully organised a meeting of School Principals, Tamworth Coaches and a representative from the NSW Transport Department. Because of the representation from Mr Draper, the Department has arranged for Paul Sullivan to travel to Tamworth later this week. The meeting will discuss the problems caused by Tamworth Coaches new bus timetable, and will be held at St Edwards Primary School this coming Thursday morning at 10.30am. Both parents and teachers still have serious concerns regarding the time it takes for many children to get home after school. Teachers duty time has increased significantly, with up to 30 minutes additional supervision required at some schools. Some children are now travelling significant distances away from their homes as a direct result of the new routes. "I have discussed the problem with the Transport Department, and they have agreed to send a representative to Tamworth to discuss the issues with the school Principals and Tamworth Coaches this coming Thursday," said Mr Draper today. " The Principals are very pleased to have this opportunity, and are looking forward to discussing the issues with both the Department and Tamworth Coaches." "I am hopeful that this meeting will be able to determine an action plan to solve the current problems. The Principals will bring examples of problems affecting their individual schools to the meeting, and the meeting will attempt to resolve them as soon as possible. The main concerns that parents have expressed to me include the length of time it is now taking the younger students to travel home after school, overcrowding of some services and the alteration of both bus stops and routes. In some instances siblings now have to travel on separate bus's, with the younger child arriving home much later than the older child. Some children now have to cross busy roads unsupervised. While recognising that it will be very difficult to fix every single problem, I would like to see the problems fixed to the satisfaction of the majority." End Release |