A 12 kilometre stretch of gravel road so rough that the government-operated school bus run is regularly suspended could spell the end for another of Queensland's small schools unless money can be found to seal the road.
More than that, parents fear for the future of their central Queensland locality and ultimately the loss of their childen.
Users of the bus run on the Kilcummin/Diamond Downs Road north of Clermont have received news that yet again the run had been cut back due to the unsafe condition of the state-controlled district road, forcing affected families to undertake independent travel twice daily to get their children to school and back.
The announcement came as no surprise - the bus driver has been attempting to dodge 10cm rocks and negotiate through thick dust obscuring her view alongside 40 or more road trains a day at harvest time.
"The service is suspended two or three times a year," Bruce Werner said.
"The road is often bad so they come and do a token grade, then two weeks later it's deteriorated again.
"It's even worse now because the material they're using is of lesser quality."
Mr Werner said the road was a missing link between the Peak Downs Highway and the Gregory Development Road that was being utilised to a much greater extent now that work on the Adani mine had begun.
When questioned, a Transport and Main Roads spokeswoman said formation grading and resheeting work on the road was due to start in December.
"This work is subject to the availability of suitable construction water, which is in limited supply," she said.
Mr Werner, whose eldest child has been attending school via the bus run for seven years, said this was what they'd heard "a thousand times over".
"If there's an issue with water, why not seal the road," he asked. "The future of our whole community is on that bus."
At present the last six kilometres of the run has been suspended and Mr Werner said that was not because it was the most dangerous part but so that the other children, some of whom had been on the bus since 7am, could get to school on time.
"If it gets worse the driver will pull the service all the way back to the bitumen," he said.
"The driver is paid per kilometre so then she's losing money, and then it becomes hard for us to secure a driver.
"The end result is, the kids go to distance education and we've lost our school."
Some 20 students travel on the Kilcummin State School East bus run at present, 10 to 12 of them directly affected by the gravel end of the road when the bus is not operational, depending on whether the entire length is suspended or only part thereof.
The Isolated Children's Parents' Association said it was an ongoing problem and local families had repeatedly failed to be heard to get improvements to the road surface.
ICPA Queensland president Louise Martin said it was outrageous to think that while DTMR had determined it was not safe for the bus to run, it was safe enough for families to drive their children to school in their own vehicle.
"If the road is too unsafe for the school bus is it then too unsafe for everyone to drive on," she asked.
"ICPA Qld will continue to pursue this and we urge local government and TMR to work collaboratively to determine a long term resolution to the situation as soon as possible so students at Kilcummin School have consistent, convenient accessibility to their classroom."
The TMR spokeswoman said the road remained open and that they encouraged motorists to observe all signs and drive to the conditions to ensure their safety and the safety of others.
"We have been working with our maintenance contractor to monitor the road's condition and carry out interim maintenance to return the school bus service to normal as quickly as possible." she said.
Affected families are being provided with an extra conveyance allowance due to increased travel for school drop-off.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
