Issue - meetings

A petition is to be presented by Mrs H Loydall, CC, signed by 280 local residents, in the following terms:

“Save our No. 45 Bus Service.  We the undersigned are very concerned with the planned reduction in hours of the No. 45 Bus Service.  This will cause serious disruption to the lives of people using the service and we urge the County Council to reinstate their subsidy on this route immediately.”

The local member, Mrs. H. E. Loydall CC, presented a petition signed by 222 local residents in the following terms:

“We the undersigned are very concerned with the planned reduction in hours of the No. 45 Bus Service. This will cause serious disruption to the lives of people using the service and we urge the County Council to reinstate their subsidy on this route immediately.”

The Committee considered a briefing note of the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management in response to the petition alongside supporting letters and documentation from Mrs. Loydall. A copy of the briefing note and supporting documents is filed with these minutes.

Mrs. Loydall made representations on behalf of the petitioners, requesting that the Director review his decision to withdraw funding for the service, as a reduction in service at peak times would have a significant effect on members of the public travelling to work. Mrs. Loydall further commented that there had been no adequate consultation with local members on the withdrawal of funding and that she found this unacceptable.

In response to questions, the Commission was advised as follows:

·        In view of the Authority’s budget deficit and the current financial climate subsidised services such as No. 45 had to be closely monitored to track take up. There were roughly 1320 users of the service per week and this equated to around 10 passengers per journey;

·        The decision to withdraw the Service had been made on policy grounds. It was not policy to support additional services over and above a core requirement to deliver a network of Monday to Saturday daytime services operating to an hourly or better timetable within 800m of 95% of Leicestershire residents. Though alternative routes were not as convenient they were available to residents;

·        Students travelling to the new South Leicestershire College would be better served by alternative services;

·        Commuted sums for Grove Park had been directed to the Park and Ride site in Enderby;

·        The impact on other services had been considered arising from the withdrawal of the No. 45 service. Passengers would be signposted to the most appropriate alternative routes and alternative methods of transport.

It was moved by Mr Jennings, seconded by Mr Boulter and carried:-

“That the proposal to withdraw funding for the No. 45 Bus Service be referred back to the Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management for further consideration, having regard to the particular difficulties caused by the withdrawal for people wishing to use the service at peak times for travel to work, and to report thereon to the Cabinet”.