A School Without a Safe Way In: Families Demand Urgent Action
Parents say they were misled over transport as pupils face hazardous journeys to Ashford's newest secondary school.
As pupils prepare for their first days at Chilmington Green Secondary School, excitement gives way to anxiety. Part of a flagship development promising walkable, sustainable living, the new school, which currently serves 450 pupils, is surrounded by unlit lanes, blocked footpaths, and high-speed roads with no pavements. Many families say they were misled about transport arrangements and now face impossible choices: drive, risk unsafe walking routes or apply to other schools.
“We are not talking about a minor inconvenience,” said Kent County Councillor and parent Dean Burns. “We’re talking about children walking through fields, crossing the A28 and navigating blind bends. It’s chaos, poorly communicated, and it’s dangerous.”
Parents Speak Out
On Saturday, 6th September 2025, nearly 80 parents gathered at a meeting organised by Kent County Councillor Dean Burns at Godinton Village Hall. The meeting was called at short notice after parents learned, just days before term began, that no transport would be provided, despite months of reassurances.
Councillors from Kent County Council, Ashford Borough Council and Great Chart with Singleton Parish Council attended, along with a Parent Governor from the school who confirmed she would be reporting back to United Learning and the Headteacher, Mr Rutland.
KCC Cllr Pamela Williams announced that KCC had agreed to extend the temporary transport for eligible pupils beyond the original October deadline. But with only 120 out of 450 pupils qualifying, many families remain stranded.
One parent, who asked not to be named, said:
“We’re being told to drive our children to school, while the council and school shrug their shoulders. It’s exhausting and it isn’t fair”
Another added:
“I have four children at different schools. Two finish at 3.10 pm – how am I supposed to prioritise?”
But the willingness to self-fund transport underscores a more profound frustration: families feel abandoned by the very systems meant to support them.
The confusion over responsibility has prompted questions about who is legally accountable for safe access.
Legal Duties
Under the Education and Inspections Act 2006, KCC must ensure safe, inclusive and sustainable travel for eligible pupils – building on the earlier Education Act 1944. Whilst it remains the parents' responsibility to ensure their child arrives safely at school, Councils like KCC must ensure that eligible children are supported when walking is not safe or practical. For secondary school-age children, they would typically expect a child to walk up to 3 miles each way on a deemed safe route.
While councils are not required to provide transport for every pupil, they are expected to ensure that infrastructure supports safe, sustainable access – especially when schools are placed in undeveloped areas.
They are not required to apply this criteria if the school is not the nearest appropriate school.
A School in a field with no way in
Chilmington Green Secondary School sits on the edge of the new Chilmington development, where only 400 homes have been occupied – far short of the thousands proposed at this stage. Kent County Council forward-funded the brand-new state-of-the-art school to meet the wider educational demand; however, the infrastructure has lagged behind.
Access mirrors the challenges faced by nearby Chilmington Primary School on Mock Lane. When it opened, there were NO pedestrian routes at all. KCC later improved some Public Rights of Way (PROW), but these remain unlit and cross fields and woodland, unsuitable for daily travel, especially in winter.
Planning conditions required Chilmington Green Road to be permanently closed, redirecting traffic through the development via roundabouts. While this improves safety where it adjoins the A28, it leaves the school isolated until further housing is built, potentially taking decades at current built-out rates.
According to the Great Chart with Singleton Parish Council minutes reviewed by this reporter, access concerns were raised repeatedly during the planning process, with warnings that the school would be unreachable by foot from outside of the current development area, without significant infrastructure investment.
Active Travel Plan or Fantasy?
The school’s trust, United Learning, submitted an Active Travel Plan, as required by planning law. But parents say it is a fantasy. There are no safe walking or cycling routes from Singleton, Great Chart or the surrounding areas such as Godinton or Chartfields. The nearest suggested route some parents have been shown involves crossing the A28 and walking back towards Ashford, through unlit fields with an estimated journey time of 90 minutes. No public transport or private coach service is being provided.
Christine Schofield of B11 Education says, “Walking to school boosts health, wellbeing and independence”, yet at Chilmington, the majority will have to be driven.
KCC’s Home to School Transport team confirmed that most routes are deemed hazardous under their own guidelines. In a statement, they said
“Transport Eligibility Officers have visited the site to assess the route to school. In its current state, the route is considered hazardous. Therefore, if the road and footpath network remains unchanged when the school opens, students attending the school whose nearest appropriate school is Chilmington Green Secondary School will be entitled to transport assistance.”
Yet families on the boundary between Chilmington and other schools, such as parts of Singleton, have been denied transport. These parents are not even expecting free transport; they want to get their children to school in the safest, most timely manner.
A Path Forward?
Parents and councillors alike are now rallying around a long-proposed solution: a pedestrian path from Singleton Hill to track down Mock Lane. The idea first raised before the primary school opened by Great Chart with Singleton Parish Council has been repeatedly rejected by the landowner, KCC, citing the cost of clearance of thousands of tyres and fly tipping that remain strewn amongst the trees, and the site was a landfill.
Cllr Burns confirmed he will be taking the proposal forward again on Monday, backed by growing community support.
As pupils arrive at a school designed for the future, their journey remains stuck in the past. Without safe access, the promises of Chilmington Green are still out of reach. Until infrastructure catches up, families say the vision of sustainable education remains little more than a pipe dream.
True colours ISSN 2977-6120
“I have four children at different schools." This sums up decades of KCC and national conservative school education policy. It's always been a transport muddle not a community policy.