Anger over cuts in Bristol bus service

A PROSPECTIVE Tory parliamentary candidate has questioned the legality of plans to cut bus services from Bristol's city centre to Downend and Staple Hill from the end of September.

Chris Skidmore, who has been chosen by the Conservatives to fight the Kingswood seat, claims the Liberal Democrat-run city council broke its rules over the way it consulted on proposals to cut the No.5 (city centre to Downend) and No.7 (city centre to Staple Hill) buses.

Mr Skidmore said the city council presented two options on the routes – withdraw them or reduce their frequency during Sundays and off-peak periods.

He said the second option to reduce frequency was favoured by most people but the council chose instead to withdraw the services.

Mr Skidmore said: "Bristol's Liberal Democrat administration has not only forced through deeply unpopular bus cuts, but it has also openly flouted its own consultation rules at the same time.

"Whichever way you look at it, one to two weeks of consultation is simply not the 12 weeks that the city council recommends.

"The way that the users of these bus services have been treated by the city council is a disgrace and an insult to those who have already had to deal with First's bus cuts."

Conservative councillors for Rodway ward – through which the No.7 bus service runs – Adrian Millward, Carol McCarthy and Kevin Seager, said in a statement: "The city council presented residents with an impossible choice – the complete withdrawal of two bus services or the dramatic reduction of four bus services – only to then ignore what the majority of people told them during their incredibly tight consultation period."

Mr Skidmore said they were now calling on Bristol's transport chief to review the bus cuts.

A city council spokeswoman said: "The Bristol Compact is an agreement between the council and the community and voluntary sector. It is a commitment to consult thoroughly with organisations which must then consult with staff, colleagues and external partners.

"These organisations need the 12 weeks to carry out their own research and report back to us.

"When conducting direct consultations with residents and businesses on relatively straightforward matters, the statutory rules, as laid down by the government, apply at present."