Anger over plan to axe free town shuttle bus

A PENSIONER is lobbying to save a free bus which ferries people around the town centre.

From April, Stockport council proposes to stop funding the Town Centre Metroshuttle, which currently operates seven days a week, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm and Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm, every 15 minutes.

This is part of the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), which sets out how the council will manage its budget.

Peter Powell, aged 72, of Holly Street, Offerton, has written to all 63 Stockport councillors, lobbying to save the service.

“I am somewhat aghast at the prospect of no free bus from April,” he said. “This service serves to stimulate the local economy, provides the ONLY bus link from Stockport rail station to the bus station, has wheelchair access and for it to cease would be another nail in the coffin of the local economy. What are the visitors and strangers meant to do on exiting the station other than to walk or use taxis?”

Retiree Peter, chairman of Stockport Harriers and Athletic Club, said he usually walks about a mile from home into Stockport town centre and gets the bus back. He also uses the free bus at least twice a week to get around the shopping areas in the town and says it has never been empty, usually carrying 10 to 15 passengers.

“I feel sorry for those who do not have private transport or are in wheelchairs or with sticks and use this bus service for their needs,” he added.

“People seem to easily forget car use is never going to be fully sustainable in the long term and for the council to get rid of this service would be an environmental disaster for the town centre.”

Coun Kate Butler, Stockport’s council’s cabinet member for economy and regeneration, said: “With a £47m saving target over the next four years, we regrettably have to put forward difficult proposals such as this.

“At a cost of £248k per year from April 2019, and the fact that this service is not a statutory requirement, we could obviously not ignore this proposal, especially as we face increasing demand for statutory services such as adult social care.”

A public consultation is open at www.stockport.gov. uk/haveyoursay and ends on January 18.