Consultation to begin on Telford & Wrekin Council subsidised buses
Telford & Wrekin Council is about to embark on a consultation which will see the public being asked for opinions about local subsidised bus services.
While 98% of bus services in the borough operate commercially, with no funding from the Council, a number of services are reliant on Council funding in order to operate.
The contract for this 2% of subsidised services is coming to end, so it’s time to review the current services and routes and put together a portfolio of routes that can be consulted on with the public before they are sent out to tender for bus operators to bid to run them.
Currently the Council spends £564,000 per year subsidising bus routes. Over the last five years the Council has saved nearly £75 million, but that figure needs to increase to £110 million over the next three years, in which time subsidised bus services are set to cost £1.7 million.
By consulting on subsidised routes, the Council wants to understand what residents, businesses and organisations need from bus services, and why services are needed.
The consultation begins on Wednesday 2 September and will run until Tuesday 13 October.
From Wednesday 2 September people will be able to give their views online at http://www.telford.gov.uk/busroutes
Alternatively, a number of consultation events will be held throughout the borough, where officers from the Council will be on hand to discuss plans and gain public opinion.
The events will be taking place as follows:
• Friday 11 September - Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge Community Centre – 9am–4pm
• Monday 14 September –Southwater 1 – 10am-5pm
• Thursday 17 September – Princess Royal Hospital – 9am-6pm
• Friday 18 September – Wellington Library – 9am-7pm
• Tuesday 22 September – The Place, Oakengates – 9am-7pm
• Wednesday 23 September – Newport Library – 10am-6pm
• Thursday 24 September – Madeley Library – 10am-6pm
• Friday 25 September – Dawley Town Hall – 9am – 2pm (please note this date has changed from 16th September)
• Saturday 26 September – Southwater 1 – 10am-4pm
Councillor Angela McClements, cabinet member for Communities, Regeneration and Transport, said: “Many people in the borough rely on bus services for a whole host of reasons, including school, work and shopping.
“Any changes to bus services in the borough could potentially impact on bus users being able to continue doing those things which they consider to be vitally important.
“There are some tough decisions ahead of us in the next three years and it is therefore important for residents to give us feedback on the Council’s subsidised routes so that we can understand the needs and importance of these routes to our local communities before going out to tender.”
Following the consultation, any necessary changes will be made to the routes and services in the tender documents which will then be released as part of the procurement process.
Changes to routes or any new services will then begin in Spring 2016 once contracts have been awarded.
To find out more about the consultation, including what routes are affected, visit www.telford.gov.uk/busroutes from Wednesday 2 September.
