Council leaders warn Stagecoach plans leave 'rural communities isolated'

The cuts to scheduled services will begin from November

Council leaders are "disgusted" at a bus company's decision to cut routes used by vulnerable communities.

Stagecoach said it would cancel services in Gloucestershire that deliver some 300,000 journeys per year.

Councillor Graham Morgan said: "They've hit the most vulnerable in society," by prioritising commercial routes leaving rural communities isolated.

A Stagecoach West spokesperson said the "difficult set of challenges" were "largely outside our control".

"We are very disappointed that Gloucestershire County Council has effectively tried to wash its hands of its share of responsibility for delivering public transport to local communities in the region," they added.

Education, Skills and Bus Transport cabinet member Philip Robinson (Cons) said he was "hugely disappointed" that Stagecoach had placed commercial interests above the needs of many of its rural customers.

"Reinstating the cancelled routes with new providers is a priority for us, but this is a very challenging and difficult market and while we will make every effort to find alternatives this will be a far from easy path," he said.

'Trying their best'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the cuts affect the Forest of Dean particularly badly, with both Cinderford and Lydney losing their town services.

"They just don't think about people. It's ... disgusting," county councillor Graham Morgan (Lab) said.

He gave the example of Cinderford which is on a hillside, and said people would find it difficult to walk instead.

Council chairman Alan Preest (Cons, Lydney) said: "We have got to take our hats off to organisations like Dial-A-Ride in Lydney who are trying their best to make up for this."

The council said market testing had been completed and full procurement would be carried out shortly, but finding replacement operators would be difficult.

The council provides Stagecoach and other bus providers with £10m a year for subsidised routes and reimbursement for concessionary bus pass fares.

'Open and honest'

The Stagecoach spokesperson said: "We have tried to engage with the local authority for months to work in partnership to make the best of a very difficult set of challenges largely outside our control.

"We have been open and honest with council officers and elected representatives about the scale of the problem and have given them as much notice as possible to allow them to consider solutions."

They said the local authority could have put new replacement council bus contracts out to tender from mid-August, "but it has dragged its feet".

"We have provided regular updates to the Traffic Commissioner on the delivery of services in the region and the extensive steps we have been taking to recruit new drivers.

"Our local communities are extremely important to us, and we know how critical bus services are to people in our region. That will always be at the heart of our decisions.

The company now has plants to meet Mr Robinson and Colin Chick, executive director of economy, environment and infrastructure to "reset relationships so we can collectively focus our energy and resources on identifying the best way forward for local people".