Local residents are being reminded that they have a week left to comment on the Council's proposals to cut subsidised bus services in order to save more than £1.5m - which represents a 43% saving on the current annual supported bus service budget.
The proposed changes to local services include reducing the 88 Knutsford to Wilmslow to Altrincham bus from a half hourly to an hourly service, with all journeys serving Morley Green (currently Morley Green is served every hour rather than half hourly like Bank Square and Wilmslow Rail Station).
Additionally the Council is proposing to cut support for the 200 service from Wilmslow to Manchester Airport which passes through Styal.
The Council is also proposing to discontinue running buses on evenings and Sundays, as these are the least used of the subsidised services. This would result in cutting support for the Sunday 130 service which travels Macclesfield to Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and Manchester. The 130 weekday daytime services are provided commercially so they have not been considered as part of the Supported Bus Service Review.
Several readers have contacted us to raise a particular concern that the proposed changes to the timing of the 88 service means that the first bus of the day would arrive in Altrincham at 8:40am which is too late for it to be used by school children and probably too late for many working in that area.
Fred Rayers contacted wilmslow.co.uk to say "The proposed time of arrival of the first Knutsford-Wilmslow-Altrincham bus of the day at Altrincham bus station of 8:40, is after the time they must be in school.
"We do not have any real issues over the return to an hourly service always via Morley Green, rather than every 30 minutes, which was never going to be viable, or the loss of early/late bus times which very few (if any) use."
Tim Dale said "These proposed bus service cuts destroy the usefulness of the service as a school bus from Alderley and Wilmslow to the Altrincham schools: Altrincham Grammar schools for boys and girls, St Ambrose etc.
"The proposals cause a few issues but the insurmountable one is that under the proposals the first bus in the morning does not get to Altrincham before the start of regular school, and long after any before school clubs.
"Parents in Wilmslow rely entirely on this public school service as there is no private paid-for alternative, so the proposals could prevent Wilmslow and Alderley pupils attending their first choice of school."
Tim added "An irony of the proposal then is that some of the times which they propose to cut (the first couple of buses of the day) are likely amongst the busiest of the day, filled with school children."
The consultation ends on Wednesday 26th July and the public can give their views online and on paper-based surveys which are available at libraries.
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 hear what the public has to say.
"We will still be investing more than £2m in subsidised bus services."
You can see the proposals and give your views online or pick up a consultation pack at the library.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
This is how we we're supposed to discourage car use, and to encourage more people to use other forms of transport?
While I understand that all the 'buses on the old 129 & 130 routes Manchester to Macc were never always full there must have been some demand.
I was on one of the last of the Macc-bound services in December 2015 and noticed that there wasn't really an attempt to keep to any time-table or schedule.
This is the best way to discourage people to use them by not turning up at the advertised time - or well before - and so people will be discouraged from trying again. Result!!