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Angry parents and pupils have taken to the streets in protest over “unbelievable” proposed cuts to free school buses.

Around 50 protesters gathered in Wattsville on Monday October 14 to oppose council plans that could see their school bus, which runs to and from Cwmfelinfach Primary School, axed.

Currently, free school transport is provided to primary school pupils who live 1.5 or more miles away from their school.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet, tasked with making £45 million of savings over the next two years to balance its budget, is proposing to raise this to two miles – meaning more pupils will have to make their own way to and from school.

Meanwhile, the minimum distance would rise from two miles to three miles for pupils in secondary school and post-16 education.

If the proposals go ahead, Cwmfelinfach Primary School pupils living in Wattsville and Brynawel would have to walk along the B4251 road to get to school.

Independent councillor Janine Reed, who represents the Ynysddu ward, said the “notoriously dangerous road” has had as many as 65 accidents in recent years.

Cllr Reed said it’s “shameful” that the council would expect parents to take primary school-aged children along a road that has had “so many known accidents”.

A Caerphilly County Borough Council traffic survey from May 2019 to 2024 found that the number of HGVs that drive through the valley ‘quadrupled’ from 113 to 484. The survey also found that in 2024, 85% of traffic exceeded the 20mph speed limit.

Becky Brain, a mum-of-two from Wattsville, said she was “very angry” at the council’s proposals.

Ms Brain continued: “Twenty years ago I was walking on the pavement through the village with my family – two weeks later I woke up in hospital lucky to be alive, as a car mounted the pavement and dragged me under. Yet, Caerphilly Council wants me to walk my children to school.”

Cllr Jan Jones, who also represents Ynysddu as an independent, pointed out that 20% of the school’s pupils are from Wattsville and Brynawel.

Cllr Jones raised concerns that if the school bus is withdrawn, parents could instead decide to send their children to the nearer Waunfawr School in Crosskeys – resulting in a 20% reduction in the budget for Cwmfelinfach Primary.

She also described the route children could have to walk as “arduous and dangerous,” and said the current public bus is hourly – meaning it wouldn’t align with school start and finish times.

The council argues it already offers a generous school transport scheme, and its plans would bring the borough in line with Welsh Government minimum distances.

The cuts would also help council leaders address a “huge funding gap” in its budget projections for the next two years.

The local authority spent £10.7 million on school transport last year.