Bus services under threat as council '˜slash and burn'
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) is looking to save £170 million over the next four years, and authority leader Coun Martin Hill has admitted that ‘some services will stop running’ across the county as a whole.
LCC has a list of 169 routes across the county which receive a subsidy, including 21 ‘CallConnect’ services which are fully subsidised by the council.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThese routes include bus stops in Louth, Mablethorpe, Sutton on Sea, Alford, Binbrook, Saltfleetby, Saltfleet, Huttoft, Theddlethorpe to name a few.
The listed routes also include connections between our area and other popular destinations including Lincoln, Grimsby, Wragby and Market Rasen.
The latest proposals come on top of a reduction in council subsidies for school buses, and previous reports that there will be a huge reduction in services between Louth and Mablethorpe from private bus company Grayscroft, taking effect next week.
Coun Hill previously told the Leader: “We are now being asked to find another £170 million in the next four years with our government grant reducing to 10 per cent of what it was only a short time ago. Frankly, this is not sustainable.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“We also face considerable extra costs [...] and there will be a serious impact on the services we fund and deliver. No area is immune from this and some of our services will stop running entirely.”
A spokesman for the council said that the council uses CallConnect as a bus service which, if any companies pull out of any routes, can be used as a replacement for those areas.
County Councillor Sarah Dodds (Lab), who represents Louth North, told the Leader that the “slash and burn” approach would be a huge loss for our area, with access to healthcare being of particular concern.
She added that there would “not be a good outcome” for Mablethorpe if bus routes were cut, as the town is currently also at risk of losing its secondary school.