Local bus services saved after sustained campaign against ECC cuts

Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is delighted to announce that the bus routes 59, 590, 320 and 321 have been saved and will continue.  Essex County Council announced last week that it has reversed its proposals to discontinue these local bus services.

There has been a huge backlash from residents to the proposals, which would have seen the 59, 590, 320 and 321 services cancelled.  ECC undertook a second public consultation into their closure proposals, and again received a huge local response in support of these services – this time, 1439 responses were received from local residents, with every single one opposed to the proposed cuts.

R4U ECC Councillors Martin Foley and Paul Gadd have been working intensively with local residents and parish councils to demonstrate to ECC why these buses are vital to our communities and find ways to increase usage of them.

R4U ECC Cllr Martin Foley said “What a great response: residents, young  and old, commuters and school children, shoppers, workers and parish councillors  joined the campaign to oppose the proposed cuts to these vital services – a great team effort. Stopping the 320 and 321 bus routes would have left Sewards End, Radwinter, Hempstead and Steeple Bumpstead without any public transport. The consultation on these services has drawn a huge local response and the parish councils and I have been working hard to get these services better used, with usage increasing significantly even in the short time since the cuts were proposed.”

R4U ECC Cllr Paul Gadd said “The bus services connecting Saffron Walden to Audley End Station are vital for many people, particularly those who can’t afford to drive, or who want to use sustainable transport. ECC were proposing to cut these services because of the level of subsidy they were paying, so it’s important both that ECC recognise the need for them, and that residents use them more. We’ve already seen a significant reduction in the subsidy needed, and we need more people to use the buses to reduce this further. There have been issues since the train timetables changed last autumn with buses not serving trains properly, and also recently with temporary staff shortages leading to unreliability. ECC are now recognising these issues, and Cllr Foley and I are going to work with ECC, residents and affected parish councils to try to get better timetabling of services and encourage greater usage of the buses. For the present, we’re delighted at this outcome, and thank residents for their huge show of public support for these services.”

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