Labour’s three ward councillors in Norwood have raised concerns about planned bus route changes in the town as part of a service review.
Proposals by bus operator Arriva will either axe or alter a number of bus services across Sefton, which the councillors believe will cause difficulties for local residents.
Two routes in Southport will be directly affected. One of the services earmarked for closure is the 46a route which runs through Norwood ward and means that the Old Park Lane to Roe Lane area will no longer be served.
Changes are also planned for the 44 route, with journeys that ran between Crossens and Walnut Street no longer running via Town Lane to Walnut Street but to start and finish at Town Lane, Kew.
Councillor Carran Waterfield is trying to gather information about the impact of the changes and says she’s worried that many residents simply do not know Arriva are planning the changes:
“Merseytravel is carrying out a consultation on the bus review and I’d urge as many residents as possible to look into the proposed changes and make their views known on this issue. These routes are often a vital lifeline for people and Southport has already seen services being restricted by Arriva. Residents can also contact me about any issues.”
Her ward colleague Cllr Greg Myers says there’s also a concern that changes in the review are an attempt by the bus company to force more financial support for some routes out of the public purse:
“The worry is that Arriva, which makes hundreds of million pounds profit each year, may be trying to force Merseytravel to subsidise its operations to an unfair level. It smacks of playground arm twisting with this large national private company attempting to fleece the local public body of its lunch money by using our residents’ needs as their leverage. If that’s the case, it is unacceptable.”
Cllr Mhairi Doyle says time is of the essence if residents have concerns:
“The consultation closes by 5pm on the 24th of this month so we’d urge anyone affected to contribute to it and get in touch with Carran if they have any information they think might be of help.”
Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Southport, Liz Savage, believes that local communities would be better served by bringing buses under the control of the Metro Mayor and the local council so that passengers can be the priority, not shareholders:
“Bus de-regulation in the 1980’s by Margaret Thatcher has only led to a poorer service. Buses in London though avoided this and were allowed to remain publicly controlled and as such have a very comprehensive network and affordable fares – if it’s good enough for them, why not us?”
Full details of the bus changes and consultation can be found here: https://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/about-us/Pages/Sefton-Bus-Network-Review-2019.aspx
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