Cheshire East bus services out for consultation

 

Cheshire East Council will launch a 10-week borough-wide consultation into subsidised bus services this month.

The proposals in a report presented to cabinet today will save more than £1.5m from the council’s budget. Cheshire East now urges the public to come forward and have their say.

During the consultation – which starts on Thursday May 18 – the public will be able to give their views online at www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/busreview and on paper-based surveys at libraries and customer service centres.

All opinions are welcome on the consultation process, whether they come from shift workers, local businesses or people who use buses in their leisure time. Cheshire East also encourages members of the public who don’t use buses to engage with the consultation.

The proposed changes include discontinuing buses running on evenings and Sundays, as these are the least used of our subsidised services. This is being suggested in order to maintain the majority of weekday and Saturday services.

Councillor David Brown, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said: “Changing the way services operate is always a very complex issue.

“Naturally the council wants to weigh up the needs of all our service users for such an important consultation, so we are determined to take every possible opportunity to get the message that we want to hear your opinions out there.

“We will still be investing more than £2m in subsidised bus services.”