Campaign set up to save dale's rural bus services, Teesdale Mercury

Campaign set up to save dale's rural bus services

Sep 7, 2010

A CAMPAIGN is being organised to save rural bus services in Teesdale in the light of proposed cutbacks.

Durham County Council currently spends £4.5million each year subsidising bus services, including a large number in Teesdale.

Bus operators say they need the subsidies because the routes are not used enough to be commercially viable without support.
But council chiefs are preparing to slash the authority’s public transport budget, and some of these services could be axed.

Worried residents are now creating a group to tell council bosses how important the routes are.

Teesdale Action Partnership (TAP), an organisation set up to give locals a greater voice, is spearheading the campaign.

Sandra Moorhouse, chairwoman of TAP, said: “If rural bus services are cut in Teesdale it could be disastrous.

“Bus services in the dale are so poor to start with and it could be devastating, particularly for people who can’t drive or don’t have a car, especially young people.”

The TAP has formed a ‘task and finish’ group to take on the issue.

The county council is holding a consultation on the matter and it is due to end on September 24.

But Mrs Moorhouse said the consultation was being held at a time when most people are on their holidays.

“The county council has also asked parish councils for their views, but everyone knows that most parish councils don’t meet in August and some won’t meet until late September,” said Mrs Moorhouse.

She hoped that transport bosses would not axe Teesdale’s services on the grounds that fewer people used them than in other areas.

“The dale has fewer people, but it doesn’t make the buses just as vital,” she said.

David Kinch, the chairman of Teesdale Local Councils’ Forum, also voiced fears.

He said: “Most of the buses in Teesdale are subsidised and those of the ones they want to cut. We can ill afford to lose those services, but Teesdale is going to be worse off again.”

Cllr Kinch said the bus to Darlington Memorial Hospital – which passes through Staindrop, Ingleton and other villages – could be one of those to be axed.

He claimed that the council’s cabinet, which would make the decision, had already made up their minds.

“None of the cabinet are even from the dale. It’s a losing battle,” he said.

When asked last year, the council said eight regular services in Teesdale were fully subsidised, and five part-subsidised.

Those included the number 70 Barnard Castle to Darlington, the 71 town service, 79 Barnard Castle to Richmond, 88 Barnard Castle to Bishop Auckland via Hamsterley  and the 73 from Middleton-in-Teesdale to upper Teesdale.

Mr Kinch urged as many people as possible from Teesdale to write to the county council to tell them which bus services were crucial.

The council’s head of transport, Adrian White, said: “Obviously we want to minimise the impact of any reductions on members of the public so who best to turn to for their views on this.

“We are expecting significant reductions in local authority funding in October and, rather than announce we are cutting this or that service, we would really appreciate hearing what the people who use and operate these services think.”

l To have your say, email passengertransport@durham.gov.uk, or write to Bus Service Consultation, Passenger Transport, Regeneration and Economic Development, Durham County Council, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UQ.