Have Your Say on the Future of Transport
An eight-week public consultation is being
launched to gain the views and ideas of people who use public
transport.
Starting this Friday, the public will be
consulted on proposals to review the bus services, which Cheshire
East Council subsidises.
The consultation will look at those routes
that are under-used, and see if flexible and community transport
can better meet their needs.
The responses will be used to shape the
Council’s future decisions on how the available budget is spent and
which services the council should continue to subsidise.
Councillor Rod Menlove, Cabinet member with
responsibility for environmental services, said: “This review is
all about looking at our public transport network with fresh eyes
and with a reduced budget in mind.
“We want to hear all about how we can
modernise the network, so that people in rural areas that don’t
currently have access can tell us what their needs are.
“It’s also about looking at under-used bus
routes and tapping into those communities to see if other forms of
transport, such as community car schemes, could work more
effectively.”
Continued
The review of the Council’s support for public
transport has been triggered by recent changes in central
government allocation of funding, which has increased pressure on
local authority budgets.
The Council needs to reduce the amount it
spends on public transport by approximately 18 per cent over the
next twelve months.
Despite a challenging budget position and the
need to reduce spending on public transport, the Council is still
committed to spending £1.8m per year on supporting public
transport.
The consultation provides the opportunity for
local people and partner organisations to have their say on how the
Council should support public transport in future and this will
shape the Council’s future plans.
The consultation ends on Friday, June 22,
2012. Please find a copy of the Public Transport Consultation
document below, along with a link to the online survey.
Alternatively, the consultation material will
be made available in local customer contact centres and libraries.
A number of drop-in sessions are being held in towns across the
borough during the consultation period (details below).
