The Managing Director of Stagecoach in the South West, Ian Manning, has written to all Councillors in Swindon, criticising the Conservative administration’s approach to public transport and in particular, bus services. He also urges them to vote against the Conservative administration’s proposed bus subsidy cuts and their bus strategy.
Councillor Watts is a Ward Councillor in the Old Town Ward, of which the Council subsidised number 22, 25 and 71 bus services currently pass through (either through Okus or on the Pipers Way side of Old Town). These services are therefore vulnerable to closure with the Conservative administration announcing that £200K is being cut from council bus subsidies.
The Managing Director of Stagecoach in the South West, Ian Manning, has written to all Councillors in Swindon, criticising the Conservative administration’s approach to public transport and in particular, bus services. He also urges them to vote against the Conservative administration’s proposed bus subsidy cuts and their bus strategy.
Councillor Watts is a Ward Councillor in the Old Town Ward, of which the Council subsidised number 22, 25 and 71 bus services currently pass through (either through Okus or on the Pipers Way side of Old Town). These services are therefore vulnerable to closure with the Conservative administration announcing that £200K is being cut from council bus subsidies.
Councillor Nadine Watts, Ward Councillor for Old Town, said:
“I found this letter very insightful about the challenges Swindon’s bus operators’ face in the future without Council or government support. In the letter they suggest that because bus services do not always provide visible outcomes they are being unfairly punished through a lack of investment. I would support that argument because a lot of my constituents, who currently use Council subsidized bus routes rely on their bus services to get to work, see family or friends or be able to do their weekly shop.
They also highlighted the fact that Cambridgeshire Council has tried to eliminate bus subsidies in their area but u-turned because of challenges by residents groups for discriminatory behaviour against older people. And this, I think, is something the Conservative Group need to be weary of because Older People’s Forum have already voiced their concerns.
What worried me most is his argument that if the Council votes to discontinue public subsidy toward bus services then it will be almost impossible to reverse the decline of bus services overall.
I hope the Conservative administration take note of the Managing Director’s assessment and work with the likes of Stagecoach to deliver a high quality bus service”
Cllr Nadine Watts
Photograph: By Arriva436 (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons