Agenda item

Petition referred to the committee for consideration - Report of the Corporate Director, Business and Environmental Services, NYCC

To consider the petition ‘Restoration of the original bus service between Ingleton and Lancaster - previously the No80 service provided by Stagecoach’.

Minutes:

Considered –

 

The petition ‘Restoration of the original bus service between Ingleton and Lancaster - previously the No80 service provided by Stagecoach’

 

Daniel Harry, Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager, introduced the petition stating that the petition has been referred to the Committee under the Council’s Petitions Scheme due to the number of signatories being above 500.  He outlined the options that the committee had under the Petitions Scheme, as follows:

 

(a) to take the action requested by the petition;

(b) not to take the action requested for reasons put forward in the debate;

(c) to commission further investigation into the matter, for example by a relevant committee; or

(d) where the issue is one on which the county council executive are required to make the final decision, the county council will decide whether to make recommendations to inform that decision.

 

Daniel Harry then read out the following on behalf of the petitioner, Sheila Kay, who was unable to attend the meeting:

 

The Agenda for this meeting makes it quite clear that the Business and Environmental Services Officers comments in the Pre-Agenda meeting indicate that the Bus service will not be restored despite the petition asking for its restoration.

 

Item 4.6 in the Agenda reads:  Regarding the specific comments made in the cover letter, the aim of the 583 service was to provide links to the nearby service centres of Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale.

 

I’m not quite sure that I want to wait around for a bus to take me to the Dynamic Village of Ingleton to use their Co-op since that is their main shop, similarly, Kirkby Lonsdale, pretty as it is; has a small Booths shop and mainly tourist outlets.

 

No alternative was discussed or even considered at this meeting.

 

In the year 2016 the population of the Ward was 3,634.  1,274 are 60 years or older. That’s 35% of the Ward.  1,883 are 50 years or older. That’s 52% of the Ward.  Since these figures were produced a ‘Retirement and assisted living facility’ has been built in Bentham. The residents have to be 55years or older. There are 64 apartments and 8 Bungalows on the development so those quoted percentages are rising!

 

The Ward, generally, has an older population than most. With age, mobility issues arise more frequently and Hospital visits become a routine. Our nearest Hospital is in Lancaster which as a result of the lost service is out of the question unless we further drain the NHS by demanding their transport.

 

There followed a discussion with the key points as summarised below:

 

·         The Stagecoach contract was managed by Lancashire County Council and was not economically viable.  A local coach company, Kirkby-Lonsdale Coaches, stepped in to provide what service they could as a small company

·         There may be some value in exploring a link between Bentham and Hornby as this would improve the overall service

·         It needs to be recognised that commercial bus services in rural areas are increasingly not economically viable and that the county council is not in a position to provide large scale subsidies for services that are not widely used

·         Lancaster and Preston are key service centres and efforts need to be made to ensure that there is access to them for people who are unable to drive

·         There is little that the ACC can do about this other than refer to the Executive member and/or overview and scrutiny.  The ACC have little power

·         The Petitions Scheme may need to be reviewed

·         There is a need for the transport system as a whole to be reviewed and a broad range of partners and organisations brought together to come up with some creative solutions

·         There may be a lot to learn from the YorBus on-demand bus service pilot that connects Ripon, Masham, Bedale and surrounding villages

·         A consequence of free bus passes is that the economic viability of some services is undermined.

 

Andrew Clarke from Highways and Transportation said that work is already underway to look at what can be put in place in the longer term to support the communities affected by the loss of the bus service.  The focus at present is upon the link between Bentham and Hornby.

 

The Chair summed up and thanked Andrew Clarke for attending the meeting.

 

Resolved –

 

a)    That the matter be referred to the Executive Member and the Director of Business and Environmental Services and a report brought back to the committee meeting in March 2023 regarding progress being made with bus services between Ingleton and Lancaster.

Supporting documents: