Devon County Council recently held a consultation on proposed changes to the bus services that they subsidise.

As a result of these consultations there will be no summer bus service from South Molton to Barnstaple on Sundays and Bank Holidays.  So anyone living in South Molton who can’t drive will effectively be stuck there on Sundays and Bank Holidays. This measure will save the County Council a grand total of £2,175 a year!

The Saturday only service to Bampton will be closed. Apparently “although some sections of the B3227 would be left unserved, no communities would be left isolated. ” Really? These are weasel words because although they may not be left isolated, the alternative would be to go somewhere you don’t want to go to or take a very circuitous route involving several buses.

The County Council ought to be encouraging the use of bus services and shouldn’t be closing them down.

Looking at the proposed reductions it appears to me that North Devon is hit proportionately harder than South Devon.  This, along with the appalling manner that the county highways department ‘look after’ the Link Road, leads me to believe that there is very much a North-South divide in Devon. The south faring far better than the north.

It will only get worse I’m afraid. Still, you get what you vote for!