Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Do they really know the Airdrie area?
Access to bus services and community facilities are fundamental to making any community a viable and attractive place to live.
So, it is incredibly depressing that bus companies are talking about withdrawing services and Culture NL, the council’s arms-length organisation, are closing community centres during school holidays.
The proposed changes to bus routes in North Lanarkshire by McGill’s Bus Services Ltd are going to leave some village communities with little or no public transport.
The residents of Glenmavis face being without any bus services until Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) can find another company to take over the route.
Also hit hard are Caldercruix, Plains and Chapelhall, with times changing and some services not starting until almost 7pm.
Alex Neil MSP and I have requested a meeting with McGill’s to see what can be done to try to find a way around these cuts and I will keep people up to date with any movements at all.
It is time these bus companies are held more accountable and that local authorities have greater ability to act to ensure communities are properly served.
Along with cutting the number of caretaker staff, Culture NL has decided that villages do not need a local community facility that they can access all-year-round.
They are closing numerous community centres across the area during school holidays.
Suggested alternative venues include folk from Salsburgh travelling to Chapelhall or Petersburn in Airdrie to hold an event, Glenmavis residents using Beechbank in Whinhall, or Chapelside, Caldercruix and Calderbank losing their facilities during school holidays in favour of neighbouring Plains or Chapelhall.
One wonders if the powers that be really know the Airdrie area at all to be able to make such crazy decisions.
I have a meeting with Culture NL next week to discuss this and put forward a few points that the decision makers seem to not have considered. I will be challenging this strongly, in the same way that I and others successfully challenged the last proposed closure programme resulting from the council’s outline budget.
Combined with the McGill’s proposals, either local taxi companies are going to make a fortune or Culture NL is going to lose more than the £400,000 it is looking to save; I know which one I think is more probable.
Finally, good luck to all local students sitting exams over the next few weeks.
Trust in what you have learned, the work you have done and believe in yourself.
Stay calm and make sure you read the paper thoroughly, front to back, before you start.
I hope I hear about some great results come August but please remember, even if you don’t get the marks you need, UCAS always has some alternative options.
It is incredibly depressing that bus companies are talking about withdrawing services