Sir,

I was appalled to read that faced with an issue of children's safety our county councillor Rosemary Hayes quoted figures! Perhaps Clr. Hayes needs reminding that she is, first and foremost, a community councillor, whose duty it is to serve the community of Saundersfoot. and that includes the children.

I fear her views are both misguided and misinformed. I have been involved with the FAST campaign (Free And Safe Transport) from the beginning and should like to clarify that our aim has not been to obtain free transport for all Pembrokeshire schoolchildren, as Clr. Hayes incorrectly stated, but to obtain free and safe transport for those who need it.

Most of the children concerned are secondary schoolchildren, as the majority of primary school children are educated within a safe and reasonable walking distance from their homes. The majority of primary schoolchildren would also be considered by their responsible parents to be too young to travel alone on public transport, so the numbers Clr. Hayes is quoting are hugely inaccurate.

At present, the county council provides the statutory minimum by issuing free bus passes to children who live outside the three-mile radius from their school and providing them with a school bus on which they are guaranteed a seat. Those children who live 2.9 miles or less away from their school have to pay for the honour of travelling on a service bus where they are not even guaranteed a seat (let alone a seat belt) unless their county council deem the route to school to be unsafe.

There isn't a single route between Saundersfoot and Tenby where there are footpaths all the way, with some sections having a 50 mph speed limit, plus the children have to cross several main roads.

So as parents we are between a rock and a hard place. We either let our children take their life in their hands and walk a very dangerous route to and from Tenby every day or we allow them to travel on a bus, not only without seat belts, but frequently without seats (if we allowed this in a car we would be quite rightly prosecuted).

Surely we don't have to have a tragedy before something is done about this. We have tried to get someone from the transport division to walk the route with us to enable us to prove that it is unsafe, but to no avail. If people feel strongly about this issue, I would urge them to contact the county council and demand that our children's safety is put first.

County council elections are due in May 2004. It is my understanding that we had the full backing of Saundersfoot Community Council on this matter and I trust that this is still the case or perhaps 'The lady is for turning!'

Mrs. Julie Watkins,

Cherry Tree Cottage,

Off Ragged Staff,

Saundersfoot.