Proposed changes to two major bus routes in the Whitley Bay area have prompted residents to act by launching a petition.
Nexus plans to cancel the 51 services between Holystone, in North Tyneside, and Whitley Bay. In addition, there are plans to extend the route of the W2 to include Beaumont Park, Red House Farm, Sainsbury's, and Earsdon Village.
The new proposed W2 route would operate a reduced hourly service between 7am and 11.30pm Monday to Saturday and 8.30 am to 10.30pm on Sunday. Buses would no longer serve Cragside in Whitley Lodge, but bus stops on Woodburn Drive at either end of Cragside would be served as an alternative.
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According to Nexus: "Most sections of the 51 route between Holystone – Whitley Bay are covered by alternative bus services. The unique sections of route in Earsdon Village, Red House Farm, Beaumont Park and Whitley Lodge would all be covered by the revised W2 service."
Residents have united in opposition to the bus proposals with a petition attracting 113 signatures.
Jane Gould, a local transport campaigner, said: "Residents of Brierdene and Whitley Lodge, faced with cuts and re-routing of their bus service have been signing a petition and emailing and writing to their local representatives in a campaign to save their local bus.
"The success of the petition and the campaign of emails and letters has shown how much people value this service. Many residents are pensioners, some have given up driving or can no longer afford to run a car.
"Others use the bus as a convenient way to access Whitley Bay town centre, shops and services such as GPs and dentists, without the worry of finding somewhere to park. The bus service also provides a useful community centre on wheels, enabling people who live alone to keep in touch with neighbours and catch up on news and gossip and helping to prevent the mental health challenges which come with old age and impaired mobility.
"Nexus state that they will offer a service to the area in the evenings and on Sundays, but we haven’t previously had a Sunday service and the evening service was cut a few years ago because of lack of use. If the motives for the cuts to the W2 are that money needs to be saved, offering evening and Sunday services would seem to be counterintuitive."
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Nexus, however, claims these proposals are being considered because of the financial position public transport is in.
Huw Lewis, customer services director at Nexus, said: “We know how important buses are to local people and we are doing everything we can to sustain routes through local communities.
“The response to our consultation on the future of the W2 and 51 has been strong, we have heard that and we want to keep both routes going as they are if we can. The situation we’re in is very challenging, through support from local councils we have increased the amount we spend on contracts for buses to record levels, more than £14 million a year across Tyne and Wear as a whole.
“But at the same time the whole bus industry is under enormous financial pressure. Commercial bus operators have already made significant cuts last year and we fear there is more to come as the Government reduces the subsidy it pays to these companies.
“At the same time the cost of each contract we let is going up faster than the rate of inflation. As a result, the money we have is being squeezed from both sides.
“We hope to have good news for people who now use the W2 and 51, but we need to understand the impact of threatened cuts across the wider commercial bus market before we can confirm this.”
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