Burton Latimer Town Council And The Parents And Pupils Of Burton Latimer Fight To Save The Removal Of The Free School Bus Service Following the well attended public meeting held this week, the Burton Latimer Town Council, with the full support of local MP Philip Hollobone, have pledged to fight the Northamptonshire County Council decision to stop the free school bus service from September 2007. Town Mayor, Michelle Evans, states \"The proposed route is an unacceptable route for walking in terms of safety. We believe there are serious flaws in the Council\'s rationale and it is our job to ensure that these are highlighted to as many people as possible\" The last traffic survey carried out was done so prior to the speed limit being changed from a 40mph limit down to a 30mph limit thus if you were to take the same results and apply them now, traffic speed would be out of the 85th Percentile quoted. Also the area in which the survey was conducted was on a pedestrian crossing, this cannot possibly show a true representation of speed. Traffic volume surveys have proven that an unacceptably high volume of traffic currently exists. Furthermore, no consideration has been given to the fact that this high volume will be augmented by up to 200 more cars taking pupils to and from school should this decision to cut buses go ahead. In the County\'s rationale they site that \'special circumstances\' may make the route unacceptable, there does not seem to be any consideration as to the type of area children are being expected to walk through. The proposed route takes them through the industrial/business park where there is one of the largest distribution centres in the region, Morrisons, also in the same area are other companies such as Weetabix, Alumasc amongst others all using lorries. There appears no consideration made to the dangers for children and motorists alike from crossing the bridge over the A14, the barrier will not be enough to prevent things falling onto the A14 traffic below. This increased traffic will also have a huge impact on the residents and businesses in the area. The impact of an increase in up to 200 vehicles at peak times has not been considered, government dictates that we should be reducing the amount of car emissions and getting people to use public transport, indeed, Burton has the largest inland wind farm a measure taken to improve the environment, and yet this decision completely contradicts this. The Town Council has organised the following actions: - Protest outside County Hall and petition presented to County - Council full council meeting - 28th June 2007, 9.45am - Drive to Latimer school by parents - 4/5 July 2007 - Petition presentation to Parliament by pupils, their parents and the Town Mayor - 25th July Anyone who would like to support these actions or sign the petitions should contact Cllr Michelle Evans on 01536 724194 or email mevans@orangelabel.info

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