Residents fear losing rural buses to cuts – again

Rural residents are warning they could once again lose all of their timetabled bus services due to a reduction in government funding.

The Chew Valley in North Somerset was left with no bus services due to cuts in 2023, leaving locals stranded until a community group set up two services the following year.

Now the government has made cuts to the scheme through which these two services were funded.

Kevin Guy, the leader of Bath and North East Somerset Council, said there had been "a clear reduction" of £6m to the scheme's bus funding.

The two services – the 99 Chew Valley Cat and X91 Chew Valley Sprint – were set up through a West of England Combined Authority (Weca) scheme.

The government has now cut Weca's three-year bus funding from £57.5m to £42.4m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At a Weca meeting, Bath and North East Somerset councillor David Harding warned the removal of the buses would leave the area "at the mercy" of WESTlink buses.

These buses do not follow set timetables or routes but can be booked in advance.

At the meeting, Liberal Democrat councillors warned that, even with a separate bus grant of £9m for North Somerset, the area was still facing cuts.

The councillors have launched a party-run petition calling on Weca mayor Helen Godwin to fund buses and to call for bus franchising in the area.

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