New community bus service for Aston Reach launched
“This morning was a very proud moment. What started as an idea to help local families has now become a service that is actually on the road”
A Local Councillor’s idea becomes a reality as the first Aston Reach community bus service takes to the road.
A new community bus service connecting Weston Turville families with Kingsbrook School and Aylesbury Town Centre was officially launched this morning. 14 students took the inaugural service to their school following a launch celebration attended by Aylesbury Mayor Cllr Sherrilyn Bateman and Cllr Darren Willmin, Chair of Weston Turville Parish Council.
The Z&S Transport A1 service has been developed following months of planning, hard work and coordination, providing local families with a safe, reliable and convenient alternative to individual car journeys during the busy school run. The idea for the service came from Cllr Darren Willmin, who identified the need for a dedicated transport option for families living in areas including Aston Reach, Weston Grove and Bedgrove.
After months of work to turn the idea into reality, the first service finally took to the road this morning, connecting Local Communities with Kingsbrook School
The weekday morning school service connects families across Aston Reach, Weston Grove, Bedgrove and Tring Road. The bus then travels directly to Kingsbrook School, providing children with a convenient alternative for their journey to school.
The service also provides two afternoon return journeys, giving families greater flexibility around different school finishing times, after-school clubs and extracurricular activities.
This new service has received support from the Mayor of Aylesbury, who described the launch as:
“An amazing achievement and will help families, carers and the wider community. It will reduce cars.”
The Mayor's comments recognise the wider community benefits of bringing children and residents together on shared transport, particularly during busy school-run periods while helping to reduce the number of cars on the roads. As the service develops and more families use it, the intention is to help reduce the number of cars on local roads during the school run, while providing parents and carers with another practical transport option.
This service is also being used to support the wider community outside the dedicated school journeys. Between the school services, the bus will operate as a community shuttle connecting Kingsbrook with Aylesbury Town Centre. This provides another travel option for local residents travelling into town for shopping, work, appointments, meeting friends and other everyday activities.
With the support of Weston Turville Parish Council, Chair, Cllr Willmin has worked tirelessly to bring together the practical arrangements needed to turn the idea into an operating service, with the ultimate aim of creating a transport option that could benefit not just school children, but families, carers and the wider community. Cllr Darren Willmin said:
“This morning was a very proud moment. What started as an idea to help local families has now become a service that is actually on the road. Seeing 14 children board the bus for our very first school run was a fantastic way to begin.
A huge amount of work has gone into getting to this point, and I'm incredibly pleased to see the idea become a reality. This isn't just about getting children to school — it's about helping families, supporting the wider community and finding practical ways to reduce the number of cars on our local roads.
I hope the service continues to grow and that even more families and residents will be able to benefit from it.”
The launch represents the beginning of what is hoped will become a valuable additional transport option for the local community.