New bus route will bypass Gloucestershire town

A "crucial" bus service relied on by rural residents to get to Bristol is set to be axed in favour of a new service that will miss out their town.

The 84/85 bus, which connects Wotton-under-Edge and villages in South Gloucestershire to Yate, where many catch trains into the city, will stop on 1 September.

A new WESTlocal two-hourly flexible service is then expected to start, connecting villages such as Wickwar and Hawkesbury Upton to Yate, but not Wotton-under-Edge.

Wotton residents have raised concerns about people who need the service.

South Gloucestershire Council worked with Gloucestershire County Council to find additional funding in June 2023 to support the 84/85 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, has allocated money to enable the new WESTlocal service.

Barbara Lawrence, a campaigner from Save The Wotton to Yate Bus Route, said the changes will not just affect those trying to travel out of Wotton.

"The understanding is South Gloucestershire people's GP surgeries are in Wotton," Mrs Lawrence.

"Doctors don't do home visits now, how are they going to access their GP appointments? It's going to be a major thing."

Hawkesbury Upton resident Debbie Young said the changes were going to affect "everybody in the village who has children" who attend Katharine Lady Berkeley in Wotton-under-Edge.

"When you get to sixth form, you're not allowed to use the free bus provided by the council, my daughter and many other children in the village have used the 84/85 bus for years," Ms Young said.

"It's not safe to walk or cycle there because it's going down narrow country lanes.

"There are no alternatives unless you wave a magic wand and make sure everybody can afford to learn to drive and to run a car."

Stroud's new MP, Dr Simon Opher, said the boundaries between local authorities had been causing some difficulty, with the bus "much more difficult to fund".

"What I'm asking for really is if everyone could just put some money towards this, we could at least extend it until May and then we can find a more permanent solution to this problem," Dr Opher said.

"It really is essential that Wotton has a bus going south and, if we don't have that, I think a number of people will move away and people will be deprived of getting to health appointments and children won't be able to get to school."

A spokesperson for WECA said: "The 84/85 is a local authority funded service in South Gloucestershire.

"There is an opportunity for communities to apply for WestLocal funding to fund viable community buses.

"However, the real problem is that where a bus service crosses the border outside of the West of England region, that would be for Gloucestershire Council to provide funding.

"Funding for cross border services does need looking at."

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