FROME Town Council is under pressure to save the town’s last evening bus service as campaigners fear it will be lost if Bath’s council slashes funding.
The First 267 weekday evening service between Frome and Bath will be in danger if, as is feared, Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) decides to reduce or stop paying subsidies for it.
Local campaigners say Frome Town Council should be ready to pick up the slack, but a council officer and the mayor have objected to taking on another council’s spending and said the money could be better spent on other projects in Frome.
The item is set to go before the town council this Wednesday, 30th November, when a council officer will recommend that the town refuses to pay any of the subsidy. If BANES stops paying, the service could be stopped and Frome would be left without outgoing buses after 5.48pm from Monday to Thursday.
Leader of Frome and Villages Bus Users Group (FAVBUG), Tracey Harding said, “I’m disgusted by the council’s attitude to this. They haven’t spoken to anybody who actually uses the bus and they’re completely out of touch.
“The officer’s report says the buses are mostly used by people on nights out but there are people travelling to work, to college, to hospitals; some of them are vulnerable people.
“The council have no interest in how people will be affected.”
A town council officer’s report has argued that the service carries ‘very few people in a (generally) very large bus’ and that passengers are likely to be travelling to Bath for entertainment, so will benefit Bath’s economy, not Frome’s.
The report recommends that the council “not subsidise this service but promote alternative transport options which are considered to be better value.”
Transport options mentioned include the town’s car club, trains, a volunteer driver scheme, and a new community bus connecting the town and local villages.
It is not yet clear whether BANES will cut its funding, nor how much Frome could be asked to pay if it does.
Mayor of Frome, cllr Toby Eliot said, “I personally wouldn’t support funding the 267 service as it currently exists. There are lots of reasons; one is that Frome Town Council simply doesn’t have the budget for it. We don’t charge council tax for it, and it’s not for the town to just pick up subsidies that other local authorities don’t want to pay.
“We also need to ask whether people are using these services because it’s their only option, or whether we can work towards something more effective in the long term, which is what I would prefer to do.
“Somerset County Council stopped funding the service years ago and it has been BANES’ responsibility since. Bath gets the biggest economical advantage out of the service so it’s for them to decide if it’s still worth funding.”
First will continue to run the Friday and Saturday evening services because they are profitable.
Mendip District councillor for Frome, Adam Boyden, has spoken in support of FAVBUG and said, “If the town council decides on this on Wednesday it will be premature because they have hardly any information.
“Somerset County Council has abandoned bus users by refusing to pay evening subsidies, and the town will be just as bad if it does the same.
“FAVBUG members are very upset about this and I know town councillors are divided; it’ll be a heated debate. I’m hoping the council will defer the decision and create a more well-thought out report.
“If BANES cuts the funding and Frome doesn’t help to pick it up, no-one will.”
