Transport chief denies cuts on the way for buses in Shropshire
A consultation on how people use buses in the county is not about cuts, a council boss has said.
Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said the authority's current bus strategy consultation was looking at the wider picture of bus use, rather than "with any intent to amend the present network".
He said if there was a need to make cuts to services in the future there would be a separate consultation at the time.
His comments come as Nigel Hartin, Shropshire Councillor for the rural Clun area, criticised the consultation as "loaded" to gather support for more cuts.
Councillor Hartin said: "In rural areas like ours the provision of a bus network is critical to maintaining healthy communities.
"The young, elderly and disabled in particular rely on buses to get them around for education, shopping, visits to doctors and so on.
"Unfortunately we have seen these services cut back over the last few years as subsidies from the council are withdrawn. Far from being a genuine consultation it is a rather blatant attempt to gather data to justify further cuts."
"In some of the questions, one answer is at the detriment of another and does not assist the completion of realistic responses.
"Others talk about assessing 'alternative travel options' which for many in rural Shropshire simply do not exist.
"The whole tenor of the document seems to be aimed at giving the council the ammunition to scrap subsidies to all but a handful of routes."
But Councillor Jones rejected the claims and said: "The council fully acknowledges the key role that such services have in providing access to health, medical, shopping, work, further education and social destinations, and also the role that public transport plays in addressing local air quality issues."
"Furthermore, the need to acknowledge the rurality of many areas of the county is also central in looking to develop a service appraisal and prioritisation framework.
"As such, this current consultation concerns the council's strategic approach, rather than looking at any specific, current services with any intent to amend the present network."If the need to review total spend on supported services does arise in the future however, the approach agreed as part of this consultation will be a key point of reference.
"If there is any future need to consult on amending specific services, the council will undertake further, separate and local consultation with any users directly affected, prior to making any decision."
The bus strategy consultation can be completed at new.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/shropshire-bus-strategy-2017-2021. The deadline is February 13 and Councillor Jones said the collated results will be published in due course.
