Bus proposal for college students berated

Parents of Waimea and Garin College students are dismayed by a Ministry of Education (MOE) proposal which will exclude their children from a school bus service.

The Dominion Rd stop will be removed from the route in favour of an existing 80kmh location on Westdale Rd, from Term 4.

In a letter to Waimea College parents, they were told that because public transport connecting Māpua and Nelson was already available, some students in the area are ineligible for school transport assistance.

The eBus service departs from its Queen St stop, which is nearest to the college, at 2.52pm and 5.56pm. The proposal would mean that more than 100 Waimea and Garin College students based in areas like Māpua and Moutere will be devoid of a school bus.

Waimea Weekly has previously reported parents’ condemnation over the Dominion Rd bus stop located close to SH60, including its pandemonium during drop-off and pick-up with vehicles parked on the roadside while heavy vehicles frequently pass.

Concerned public said, in wet weather some students, who couldn’t be dropped off, walk across the 100kmh highway because a culvert used as a pedestrian underpass regularly floods.

The ministry held firm that the stop met its safe-siting guidelines. Parent Amber Bonny has campaigned for three years for the MOE to shift the “dangerous” bus stop to an existing, safer one at Māpua. She says the proposal, which would affect her two children, would be “making life extremely difficult”.

“It’ll just move the problem down the road, and realistically there’ll be more cars on the road again, which was something we were trying to reduce by making a bus stop within the [Māpua] village,” she says.

Another option for the affected students is a private Nelson Coachlines return service, which costs students $9 per school day.

Amber says both options could impinge attendance.

“The kids either need to leave school early to get to the 2:52pm one, [the college] won’t be impressed… it’s not great for attendance rates, and the government is going on about [improving] the attendance rates,” she says.

“[The private service] would add up quickly, especially if you have more than one [child].”

Garin College parent Angelika Baprawska, who has used the current Westdale Rd stop from Redwood Valley in 2025, says its location “poses a serious safety risk” if usage increases.

She says the stop has a narrow shoulder as a pickup area, but it could safely accommodate only three vehicles, at most.

“Being in such a remote location - where few students can realistically walk or bike - means that most will be dropped off by car,” she says.