Shropshire Council has wasted £10,000 of tax-payers’ money on consultation to save a doomed bus service, it is claimed.
Angry residents fighting to protect the Number Seven bus route which links Coton Hill to the town centre made the accusation after they were told the service would cease from November 10.
The bus was originally intended to be scrapped last year but following protests from residents fearing they would be cut off from Shrewsbury town centre, Shropshire Council agreed to fund an interim service for £10,000 – the funding for which was scrapped by the Severn Loop local joint committee in July.
Campaign groups fighting for more than a year to save the service, claim they were told by council bosses that the interim funding was to allow for a period of consultation to explore alternative options.
But they now say it is apparent there was never any intention to create another service for the area.
Mark Carolan, from Coton Hill, said residents were angry because the alternatives offered by Shropshire Council did not fit the bill.
“We just want a day-to-day service that meets the needs of ordinary people. They’ve told us we can use the 501 service but it doesn’t come into Coton Hill and it’s a commercially run service so Shropshire Council won’t subsidise another bus against it.
“They’ve tried to promote Dial-a-Ride which is a great service if you qualify but if you don’t it costs more than the bus, and you have to book in advance so it takes away freedom.
“Shropshire Council has said it doesn’t want to subsidise anything over £4 per passenger but the Shropshire Link service costs a lot more than that. The Coton Hill service costs less than £2.50 per passenger but they won’t even talk to us about how we can continue the service.
“We were lead to believe they would explore alternative solutions but we’ve had nothing. The whole point of the £10,000 funding was to look at alternatives. They’ve given us £10,000 to run a service they were going to stop anyway,” he said.
Sharon Thomas, a resident of Berwick Avenue, said: “Shropshire Council hasn’t even looked at any other solutions. We’ve made lots of suggestions but they don’t want to listen. Residents feel so strongly about this we’ve got elderly people offering to pay for a service even though they’ve got bus passes.”
Another proposal put forward by campaigners is for a shared bus to run from Harlescott to the Lantern Centre, sports village, and then to Coton Hill and the town centre.
Eileen Sandford, former town councillor said she had been campaigning for improved bus links in and around Harlescott and it would make sense to link up the two areas.
“Shropshire Council needs to look at all of its bus services, many go so frequently there’s hardly anyone using them,” she added.
No one from Shropshire Council was available to comment at the time the Chronicle went to press.
By Anna Williams