Bus company defends cuts

Residents have expressed concern about the loss of bus services that link villages and nearby towns.

Trent Barton is proposing to axe the Rushcliffe Villager V2 service that serves villages including Aslockton, Whatton, Orston, Cropwell Bishop and Cotgrave, from July 23.

The service links villages to Bingham, Radcliffe, West Bridgford and Nottingham.

It is subsidised by Nottinghamshire County Council, but Trent Barton said it was loss-making and no longer sustainable.

Representatives from the company were at a meeting of Bingham Town Council on Tuesday to explain the changes.

Cotgrave resident Mr Harry Burrows called for a return of the number 22 service that linked Cotgrave to Nottingham.

He said Trent Barton had made a mistake by trying to extend the service to villages that had not previously been served by a bus.

Mr Keir Chewings, a Cotgrave parish councillor said the company should have consulted more with bus users.

Mr John Rainbow, a parish councillor for Sutton-cum-Granby, said Trent Barton should consider introducing a circular route serving just Bingham and the villages.

The meeting heard Trent Barton had discussed alternative routes and options with the county council, but no solution had been found.

Mr Francis Purdue-Horan, who represents Bingham East on the county council, said it would be tendering for a replacement service.

“It will be similar to what is being provided now with a few small changes,” he said.

'We are a commercial operator at the end of the day'

The Rushcliffe Villager V1 service will no longer stop on Wychwood Road or Carnarvon Place in Bingham and will instead travel along Nottingham Road.

Bingham town and Rushcliffe borough councillor Mrs Sue Hull said a lot of people relied on the service.

“It is only once an hour but there are a lot of people who find it difficult to walk from the centre of Wychwood Road to get on to Nottingham Road,” he said.

Mr Tom Morgan, director of service delivery at Trent Barton, said: “The decisions have been made through a long period of discussions with the county council, especially for the Villager 2 service which has been unprofitable for us for a considerable period of time.

“We have invested heavily in new vehicles and facilities and have tried it in various different forms..

“We have still not been able to make it work and we are at the point now where we can’t sustain the losses on it.”

Mr Morgan said Trent Barton could no longer serve Wychwood Road because of the extra time it took to divert along it.

He said that to keep Wychwood Road as part of its timetable, the company would have to put another bus on the route, which would not be sustainable.

“We have been talking to the county council since before Christmas about different variations and possible solutions, but there is no more money available from the council,” he said.

“We are a commercial operator at the end of the day, which is why we can’t sustain the losses.”