With money needing to be found to support other essential services and to keep Council Tax below five per cent, changes to timetables have been made and funding to the worst performing services will end this year.
Subsidies will be withdrawn from the ten worst performing Saturday services in June 2006, and community transport schemes in Eastbourne and Rye which are run by Dial a Ride will end in July 2006. Revised services will continue to run in Peacehaven, Seaford and Lewes.
In a bid to try and minimise the impact, the County Council has pledged that it will continue to support the services for a further three months, until July, and will work with Dial a Ride to try and help them secure new funding.
Changes have been made to timetables in the Lewes area and evening services between:
- Hawkhurst and Hastings
- Tunbridge Wells and Crowborough
- Rotherfield and Heathfield
- Eastbourne and Tunbridge Wells via Heathfield.
The County Council has also had to raise bus fares for the first time in three years. The money saved on the journeys and raised through the fares increase will be spent on ensuring that other borderline services can continue to be subsidised for the time being.
Councillor Matthew Lock, Lead Member for Transport & Environment, said: "This has been a very, very difficult decision. If money was no object, I would want to see bus services across the whole county, serving every village and every town. However, the fact that government hasn’t recognised the needs of East Sussex has left us no choice.
"We face a five per cent increase in running costs in services year on year. If we continue as we are, we would eventually lose all bus services, which clearly I want to avoid. That is why I want to use this to kick start a review of the way in which we fund and subsidise all bus services in the county so we can best meet the needs of our residents.”
The County Council will continue to subsidise bus services to the tune of nearly £2.7million per year and as a result of the redistribution of funding, will continue to maintain other services, which may otherwise have been lost.
Notes to editors
Subsidies to the following services will end in July 2006:
- Peacehaven Taxi Rider contract
- Seaford Dial a Ride (although this service will continue to be subsidised for school services
- Grove Park/Lewes (will now just serve Grove Park)
- Eastbourne Dial a Ride
- The Polegate Taxi rider will not be affected.
Subsidies to these Saturday services will be withdrawn in June 2006:
- Service 125 Lewes-Glyne-Firle-Alfriston
- Service 245 Uckfield Town*
- Service 249 Hadlow Down-High Hurstwood-Uckfield
- Service 303 Little Common-Bexhill-Glenleigh Park-Turkey Roa
- Service 347 Pett-Hastings-Conquest Hospital
- Service 355 Hastings-Battle-Netherfield-Dallington-Heathfield
- Service 824 (Village Rider) Villages service to Burgess Hil
- *Service 318 Etchingham-Heathfield-Uckfield will be revised on Saturdays to partly cover the withdrawal of Services 245/249 above
- Service 119 and 120 Seaford Town Saturday services will be combined and operate a revised timetable numbered 118.
Changes to timetables on the following services
- Lewes town service to Nevill reduced from every 20 minutes to every 30.
- Malling reduced generally from every 20 minutes to every 30 but with gaps.
- Some services reduced to operate on schooldays only instead of all Mondays to Fridays
- The Peacehaven to Lewes service via Newhaven and the Ouse valley villages/C7 truncated to start at Newhaven and reduced to the level which applied prior to January 2005
- Funding withdrawn from some schooldays only extra journeys from Tunbridge Wells to Wadhurst
Evening services withdrawn in July 2006:
- Service 5 between Hawkhurst and Hastings after 1800 and from Hastings to Hawkhurst after 1830
- Services 225/229 from Tunbridge Wells. The 1902 journey to Crowborough, and the 2322 journey to Crowborough, Rotherfield and Heathfield.
- Service 52. The 1805 Eastbourne to Tunbridge Wells via Heathfield and the 1940 return journey.
Reference:
909
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