Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help or is in the same situation as we now find ourselves in?
My wife, Son and I moved into our house on the Cascades On Clyde Estate in August 09. Our son has just turned 12 and started secondary college this past Monday 1st. The school he goes to is called Alkira, although it was advertised on the billboards locally as Casey Central and is one of two secondary colleges both approximately 6km away from the house in opposite directions. The problem is that although I can get him there in the mornings, there's no way for me to collect him when he finishes in the afternoon. There are no bus services or school buses that run to this part of Cranbourne East from either of the schools. It's too far for him to walk and cycling is out of the question too as the roads from the school to the house are all 80-100km roads. We called the local bus company and we're told that there are no buses on this route and they have no intentions of covering this area in the near future. They suggested that we try the education authority. We in turn called them and were basically told the same. They recommended that we call Casey Council. We then called the council and were told that they have no funding to cover that, maybe we should try the local member of parliament. We called him and the best he could advise was to lobby parliament for funding to supply a bus route. Great, but in the meantime my Son starts school in February. Our last port of call was the developers. We explained the dilema to them and asked if there was anything the could do or were planning to do. They said that it couldbe anytime between 3 and 5 years before there is a bus route here.
I find it incredible to believe that in an area which will house over 1000 families, surrounded by 2 other estates in the process of being completed and a 4th on the way expected to house a further 3000 residencies, there are no buses to get our kids to and from school. When I collected my son from school a few days ago, I was talking to the receptionist there about this and she said that its hard to believe the council hasn't provided any funding for transport especially as the school was 7 years in planning.
So, my question is this. Are there any families here on Cascades which have a child or children in Alkira and would like to share the drop offs and collections?
Thanks,
Doug