Concerns bus services lost despite cut in fares

CORNWALL councillors say that bus services have been cut in their areas leaving people unable to get to work or access services.

Concerns were raised about bus routes at a meeting of full council with arguments the people of South East Cornwall were being treated as ‘second class citizens’

Cornwall Council announced earlier this month that it was cutting fares across a number of routes over the next four years thanks to £23.5million of funding from the Government. However while this was welcomed by councillors some said they have seen services cut.

And Cllr Andrew Long, Mebyon Kernow councillor for Callington and St Dominic, said that people in East Cornwall were unable to get any benefits from the lower fares as they often use routes which go across the border into Devon which are not eligible for the Government funding.

He said: “Linda Taylor (council leader) gave a glowing report on the bus fare project and how it is helping people, but across Cornwall this is simply not the case. How is it levelling up when people in South East Cornwall are treated as second class citizens?”

Adrian Parsons, Liberal Democrat councillor for Altarnun and Stoke Climsland, quizzed Philip Desmonde, Cabinet member for transport, about the issue at the council meeting. Cllr Parsons said: “There has been no mention of the many rural bus services that have been buried this week.” Cllr Parsons then mentioned a resident who uses the bus service between Lauceston and Altarnun to get to and from work.

He said that when they got off the bus last week the driver warned them that the service would no longer operate after Sunday. Cllr Parsons said that there had been “no consultation and no announcement”. The councillor added: “This is happening right across East Cornwall. We have many residents without a link to their local town or to their job. This lady will have to quit her job if she can’t find other transport. We have made these areas unsustainable locations.”

Cllr Desmonde responded saying that rural bus services were a “problem everywhere, not just East Cornwall” and said that there were “anomalies” in the service that he wanted to iron out. However he said that the best way to keep services was to get people using them and said that the council wanted to increase the amount of people using public transport.

Responding to Cllr Long, Cllr Desmonde said that the council wanted to help provide a “superlative quality bus service” but said the issue was lack of demand for routes which made them economically unviable. He said that the bus fares project was for Cornwall only and could not be used for services which go across the border to Plymouth or Devon – a stipulation which he said had been “imposed on us”.

Cllr Desmonde encouraged councillors to get in contact with him about any issues with bus routes and services and said that a list would be drawn up: “In June we will put all the anomalies together and examine how we overcome these difficulties.”

Plymouth was not successful in securing Government funding to cut fares. A City Council spokesman said the authority was “disappointed”, adding: “The plan was developed in partnership with the city’s bus operators and was designed to get more people to use buses as part of the city’s recovery from the pandemic and to help residents take the bus as a greener way to travel.”