Villagers want city bus link restored

Two years after the implementation of a bus service that has caused real hardship to the Strathard communities Stirling Council has finally taken steps to put things right.

The effect of the Cambusbarron detour on the Aberfoyle communities has been dire.

Previously there was no Aberfoyle-Cambusbarron bus link.

This was something cobbled together by a cash-strapped Stirling Council in 2016 when First Bus withdrew the last commercial services from Cambusbarron.

There was no consultation and little thought about how it would affect existing passengers on the C11, particularly the elderly and disabled from In the Observer of July 18 we had a story in which residents from Cambusbarron voiced their concern regarding the proposed new bus timetable for the C11 service linking the village and Aberfoyle.

While the service is set to include additional stops at Forth Valley College and Stirling Community Hospital, it is likely that the loop around Wallace Place/ Gillies Hill, Cambusbarron, will be stopped.

Residents from Aberfoyle and the northern villages have a different view of the changes.

Aberfoyle, Thornhill, Port of Menteith and all the other Strathard villages, including Gartmore, who depend on this route to access Stirling.

Not only has this detour added a considerable time to their journey but this bus now travels through extremely unsuitable, narrow, country roads which can be treacherous in winter.

As with the C12 evening buses, the numbers have plummeted since its introduction.

In the case of Aberfoyle both tourism and the local economy have suffered badly and Stirling has lost revenue as a result.

The new proposal, which will revert the C11/C12 back to their original route but go on to provide a muchneeded circular link to Forth Valley College, community hospital, Cambusbarron and back to the bus station, was overwhelmingly backed by the Aberfoyle communities.

With the new proposal Cambusbarron would still retain its existing eight services per day, compared with Aberfoyle which has only five, with the last bus out of the area leaving at 4.35pm.

All rural villages to the north and west of Stirling have suffered severe cuts to bus services in recent years, some having been left with no service at all.

In view of the distances passengers from this area are having to travel to get to Stirling and the damage the current situation is doing to rural economies it is imperative that the new proposals go ahead to relieve the pressure on Aberfoyle and the other C11/ C12 villages caused by this Cambusbarron detour.

The Aberfoyle communities