COUNCILLORS in the Tamar Valley have questioned the local authority over school transport as families absorb the cost of journeys across the border.

Last month, Go Cornwall Bus said that it would allow students to access the monthly discounted fare when using the Callington to Tavistock route.

This was welcomed as it followed a ticket price rise which meant some youngsters were paying £6 a day to get to school.

However, Nick Schemanoff is campaigning for a better deal for those crossing the Tamar.

Nick says his grandchildren were told by Cornwall Council they don’t qualify for a bus pass as they don’t attend their nearest school.

But he says that Tavistock College is actually closer by road than Callington for some students in the Tamar Valley.

Calstock Parish Council and Cornwall Councillor, Dorothy Kirk, have asked the local authority to explain its policy.

“Cornwall Council states that a child’s nearest ‘suitable school’ may be in another Local Authority area (eg Devon),” said Cllr Kirk. “Where the nearest ‘suitable school’ is in another Local Authority area, but there is a ‘suitable school’ within Cornwall, Cornwall Council says it considers both schools as being the child’s ‘nearest school’.

“This seems to indicate quite clearly that by acknowledging the students’ right to choose to attend school in Tavistock, it would follow that they should not be paying, but should have a bus pass - as they would if their nearest ‘suitable school’ were in Callington.”

Cornwall Council told The Cornish Times that all the relevant information was in its Home to School Transport Policy. This document states that all children beyond walking distance to their designated school, or their nearest suitable school, must receive assistance to travel. But further on it states that a ‘suitable school’ does not mean ‘the most suitable school’.