Page 8 - link magazine

North Swindon secondary school crisis will hit children now in Year 5
Parents expecting a place at a school operate within a federation with stating they will send their child to of school.”
of their choice close to their homes Isambard so it can share resources the new school. However there is no The meeting agreed that urgent
will soon be in for a shock because and skills. obligation for them to do so. action is needed to raise awareness.
1 in 3 families will have to send their There is very little time to avert the The most viable development sites Justin Tomlinson MP and local coun-
children outside North Swindon. crisis which by September 2016 will in North Swindon are at St Andrew’s cillors agreed to work on a plan to sign
The stark situation was spelt out see 237 children attending schools Ridge close to Abbey Stadium or the up supporters during the Autumn.
at Isambard Community School on outside North Swindon, compared proposed housing area at Abbey Farm, Full story at: www.bit.ly/ northswin-
15 August by a group that wants to with only 31 in 2012. off Tadpole Lane. They are close to don11to19
make a bid for central government The free school group is proposing where places are needed and away
funding to set up a entirely new free to assemble and submit a bid in mid- from other secondary schools.
school providing 240 places a year. 2014 with a view to a school opening Isambard parent Kevin Gray said: North Swindon bus
It would be an independent school in September 2015. “Many parents of younger children alterations
with its own headteacher, manage- For the bid to be successful, at least don’t realise this is a problem when Thamesdown Transport passengers
ment team and governing body but 360 parents will have to sign a form in fact they might not have a choice in North Swindon will see changes
to some of their bus services from
2 September.
Service 15a, covering Haydon
Wick, Redhouse, Oakhurst and Taw
Hill, is to be renumbered 15 and
extended beyond the town centre to
Old Town and East Wichel. It will run
every 20 minutes, Mondays to Fridays,
and every 30 minutes on Saturdays.
Service 12 will start at St Andrews
Ridge and run into town every 30
minutes via Abbey Meads, Haydon
Wick, Haydon End and Akers Way,
replacing Service 15. It will then carry
on as now via Old Town to the Great
Western Hospital.
The new service 24 will connect
Blunsdon and the town centre via
Cricklade Road and Tesco Extra on
Ocotal Way. This will be an hourly ser-
vice and provide a quicker travel time.
Service 11 between Haydon Wick
and East Wichel will run every 15
minutes, terminating at the bus sta-
tion. Passengers travelling to the south
of the town centre will need to change
to services 12 or 15 from Fleming Way.
Paul Jenkins, managing director of
Thamesdown Transport, said: “We
have reviewed the changes we made
in January and they need modifying
to help ensure that our buses run as
punctually and reliably as possible. A
change of bus will be needed for some
cross-town journeys, but the new
direct link from North Swindon to
Old Town and Croft will be of benefit
to those who work at Nationwide and
the nearby businesses.
“Whilst the link from Blunsdon
to the Orbital Shopping Park will
be discontinued, passengers will be
able to arrive in town faster due to
the changes to their route.”
Changes are also being made to
Services 3, 17, 18 and 28. Leaflets with
all change information will be avail-
able from 23 August from the Travel
Shop in Fleming Way, on the buses,
and on www.thamesdownbus.com
www.thamesdownbus.com
8 swindonlink.com • September 2013

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