Petition calls for return of mid-afternoon Mossbank bus

A PETITION calling for the 3.15pm bus from the Mossbank School to be reinstated has been passed to the council after gaining 125 signatures from local residents.

Members of Shetland’s transport partnership ZetTrans were notified of the petition at its latest meeting on Thursday.

The 3.15pm bus previously ran from the school but the timetable was altered a number of years ago to accommodate other changes on the network.

It was used by parents and pupils to travel home after school. The petition was handed in by the vice-chair of the Mossbank School parent council.

The parent council said there would be a number of primary school and nursery children who would use the service.

It also expressed worries over children walking home from the school in the winter when it is dark, with part of the route having no pavement or street lighting.

The parent council said in a previous letter that “even a seasonal service change would be better than nothing”.

ZetTrans chairman Ryan Thomson told Thursday’s meeting that he been advised that within ZetTrans – which has responsibility for public bus services – there was “no scope” to reinstate the 3.15pm service.

He said ZetTrans lead officer Michael Craigie explained that the “provision of school transport is a matter for the council to consider, but the council policy, as it currently stands, has no duty to provide a service in this area as the affected children are within a distance where no school transport provision is necessary”.

Members agreed to note the petition and requested that Craigie provides a report on the matter for the next ZetTrans meeting in June.