Determined Warwickshire villagers ramp up battle to get their bus service back

[dutchman]

Elderly, disabled and vulnerable residents no longer have a bus service within adequate reach



When Stagecoach announced they were axing the 3A bus route in November 2018, Long Lawford residents worried. The affected roads that would no longer be served, (the centre of the village) was where most of the elderly, infirm and vulnerable residents live.

This meant that a number of people found it difficult to walk the extra distance – up to half a mile – for the next best option, to catch the 86 bus from Coventry to Rugby.

For elderly residents, and those with a significant disability, that extra distance to a bus stop made it impossible to catch a bus.

After a drawn out residents' campaign, in January 2020, Stagecoach and Warwickshire County Council e xtended a neighbouring bus route, the 209, to include Long Lawford once a day on a Wednesday and Friday.

Despite this, residents remained determined to get a regular bus service back to serving the heart of the village, and a busy campaign took shape, with their petition gaining more than 500 signatures.

Campaign co-ordinator and secretary of the Rugby Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, Pete McLaren, got in touch with CoventryLive in the wake of July's funding announcement. He said: "We have argued throughout our discussions on this that rural communities need a decent bus service to prevent isolation and enable access for all residents to facilities in nearby towns."

He added: "Residents in the affected streets now have to walk half a mile to a bus stop since the axing of the 3A bus route, and a number simply are not able to do that. That means they have no access to healthcare facilities, or any other facilities in Rugby or Coventry, unless they can find private transport. Not everyone can. Hence our request to WCC to use a tiny amount of this additional money to enable such a service to happen."

The importance of this village bus can not be understated, as Mr McLaren explained: "During the campaign, we spoke to an elderly disabled person who could now only get a bus into Rugby if she could get a lift from a family member to the nearest bus stop on the 86 route – and phone that relative to meet her off the bus on its return. Another elderly resident who used to catch the bus three times a week into Rugby told us she now does not go into Rugby at all. She has to rely on other people to do her shopping for her as she has no family support."

Mr McLaren said: "[We] remain determined that a daily service be provided through the heart of Long Lawford, and we will continue to lobby county councillors and Stagecoach in order to achieve that."

The wait for these cut off villagers goes on.

[Melisandre]

I ve seen this happen in other villages over the UK post office gies and then it spirals the government dont want villages so yhey try go force them out because they are after the land. The same thing happened in West Titherley so my daughter in laws father put to the village people to club together to buy a mini bus for them selves.

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