Town's bus service cut due to lack of funding

A bus service providing a link to Bristol for rural residents in Gloucestershire has been axed due to a lack of funding, a council has said.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) said the 84 and 85 bus, which connected Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire and villages in South Gloucestershire to Yate, stopped running on Saturday.

It said a new two-hourly flexible service by WESTlocal would take its place, connecting villages such as Wickwar and Hawkesbury Upton to Yate - but not Wotton-under-Edge.

The town's residents previously feared being "housebound" and "cut off" if services were cut.

Some Wotton residents relied on the service to travel to Yate and then catch a train to Bristol.

SGC said it worked with Gloucestershire County Council to find additional funding in June 2023 to support the 84 and 85 route while longer-term solutions were explored.

The West of England Combined Authority (WECA), which holds responsibility for buses in South Gloucestershire as the transport authority, funded the new WESTlocal service.

But councillor Chris Wilmore, SGC cabinet member for infrastructure, said the council had been left with a "patchwork of short-term fixes".

"We will only find long-term solutions if long-term funding is committed by the transport authority," he said.

Dan Norris, Mayor of West of England, said he had "limited powers" to influence privately-run bus companies.

"Where there is a social need buses can be funded by the Transport Levy provided by local councils to the Combined Authority," he added.

"Unfortunately, the West of England Transport Levy is the lowest per capita of all the Mayoral Combined Authorities in England and so there is a limited amount of services that can be funded.

"The 84/85 is a local authority funded service in South Gloucestershire. The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority has however put in place some alternative options for the majority of communities affected.

"The WESTlocal service Y8 which runs between Hawksbury Upton and Charfield via Yate and Chipping Sodbury has started and will be funded until at least April 26.

"Regarding the wider picture, funding for cross-border bus services does need looking at.”

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