Stanwell parents still worried school bus will ride M1 without seatbelts during LHD closure

And they say the agency in charge said buses along the M1 wouldn't have seatbelts because this would "set the expectation" for seatbelts to be installed on buses statewide.

Students who live in Stanwell Tops, Otford or beyond will have to travel along the M1 to Bulli then back up to Stanwell Park for primary school for three weeks from June 15, while anyone south of the closure would have to take the motorway if they need to get their kids to preschool in Helensburgh.

This turns a 20-minute round trip into a 90-minute journey, and up to four hours if taking public transport.

Read more: LHD closure would devastate us, business owners say

But with two weeks until the closure, and despite appeals to Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and Member for Heathcote Lee Evans, parents still have unanswered questions about the buses.

The school's Parents and Citizens Association (P&C) has written to the minister concerned the buses will ride the M1 without seatbelts.

"This is causing stress and frustration as parents are unable to plan for the disruption and are concerned about, the safety of their children," P&C President Kristina Revenda said.

"The seatbelts were never really considered as an option despite us making them an issue from the beginning. When I questioned this I was told this would set a precedent for all school buses to be equipped with seatbelts.

"The project manager dismissed my concerns by saying he never had seatbelts on the bus when he was travelling to school.

"I don't really think the health and welfare of students should be considered as inconvenient."

Parents were also concerned the scheduled bus would leave an hour earlier at 7am and arrive at school by 8am - half an hour before supervision starts.

The Mercury put these concerns to Mr Constance for a response. A statement was received from a Transport for NSW spokesman.

It said the bus would leave at 7.20am and would arrive at school at the same time as the current service. But there was no move on seatbelts.

"School bus travel is one of the safest forms of travel in NSW," it said. "Seatbelts in dedicated school buses and regular passenger services are not used in metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas of NSW."

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