Shrewsbury trade fears over bus axe plans

Shrewsbury town centre shop owners will lose out on thousands of pounds worth of trade if transport chiefs push ahead with plans to axe Sunday and evening bus services, campaigners claimed today.

Shropshire Council's Bus Strategy, which is currently out to public consultation until Monday, includes a recommendation that the subsidy to evening and Sunday services in the area should be ended.

Campaigners say this will have an immediate impact on town centre traders as the 87,500 passengers who use the services will be unlikely to visit their stores.

Transition Town Shrewsbury and Ludlow 21 are calling on Shropshire Council to assess the economic impact of ending Sunday services and to hold back from implementing the bus strategy's proposals.

They will hold a public meeting at the Gateway on Saturday to garner more support to fight the plans.

They drew comparison with the bus strategy's stat-ement that research commissioned by Shropshire Council and others showed that the relatively small scale Shropshire Hills walkers' services had an economic benefit of £62,000 for a season.

Peter Gilbert, from Transition Town Shrewsbury, said: "We know from resear-ch elsewhere in England that town centres depend very much on revenue from shoppers who arrive by bus.

"It's clear that in the current difficult trading conditions the loss of a significant chunk of Sunday custom is going to affect businesses. And workers who work on Sundays, or travel home after work on the evening services, are going to find it difficult to keep their jobs."

John Hall, chairman of the Shop in the Loop group, said traders were concerned about the proposals.

He said: "Anything that makes it more difficult for people to get into the town centre is clearly going to affect town centre trade."

Martin Taylor-Smith, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for transport and IT, said the authority was facing significant pressure to make spending cuts.

He said: "We understand the importance of public transport to access essential services, especially for those more vulnerable and living in rural areas, and we will strive to protect this.

"However, as some services are subsided up to £21 per passenger journey, we need to make tough decisions if we are to protect key bus services which are fit for Shropshire in the future."

Saturday's public meeting will start at 2pm.

By Russell Roberts