JUDGING from the recent items on your letters page and the e-mails I have received it would appear that my comments which you reported in your edition of March 10 have aroused considerable interest and also no small amount of misunderstanding.

I do fully support the parents and workers who are finding it difficult to manage the circumstances which these changes create but as you accurately reported there simply is not enough money to go around.

I have been accused of not recognising that children are a vulnerable group and of course they are but they are not the only vulnerable group that the county council has to provide services for. I have been accused of not being familiar with the routes to the schools, which after some 40-plus years of walking, cycling and driving in the areas involved, I probably know better than a good many residents. I am also very familiar with the problems of these routes at the times of the 'school run' and often observe these at first hand.

One of my first actions on learning of the proposed cuts in service was to ask that the routes be tested for safety in terms of young people having to walk along them. The officers of Devon County assured me that they are considered safe, having been recently checked.

In the case of some of these routes I fundamentally disagree with this view and have recommended that parents exercise their right to appeal against the decision not to provide transport on the grounds of safety. As the local county member I will be supporting these appeals and accompanying the parents to the hearings.

I and many others have been working tirelessly to try to solve the problems before April 10, and we will continue to do so, but sadly we are not magicians and some issues may remain unresolved.

Philip Sanders

County Councillor

Yelverton

Rural Ward