Bus plan branded 'dystopian' as councillors clash on cost
A cross-party push for a costed rural bus strategy has collapsed at Suffolk County Council, with Reform councillors dismissing it as unrealistic and opposition members insisting it committed no actual spending.
Why it matters: Two in five Suffolk parishes have no bus service to their nearest town during commuter hours, according to the council's own data, and a plan to map out how to fix that has now been voted down.
The details: The Green Party group, Suffolk County Council's official opposition, brought a motion calling for a goal of a minimum five-day-a-week bus service for every parish in the county. The motion was successfully amended by the Conservatives before going to a vote.
As amended, it called for a cross-party policy development panel to be set up to produce, within six months:
- An assessment of how much further funding would be needed to achieve a minimum universal bus service for Suffolk
- A costed priority list of bus routes for investment, alongside a timeframe for spending money remaining from the council's most recent Government bus funding allocation
The motion was turned down with 33 votes to 24.
By the numbers: The Green Party said council data shows 189 of Suffolk's 479 parishes have no bus service to the nearest town during commuting hours. Census figures show one in six Suffolk households have no access to a car.
What they're saying: Cllr Robert Lindsay, the Green group's spokesman for Transport and Highways, who tabled the original motion, pointed to a minibus route between Hadleigh and Stowmarket – secured after a two-year campaign and running since April – as evidence of what investment could achieve. He said the route had "changed the lives" of people between the two towns, including one elderly woman living alone who was now able to visit friends and take up swimming.
Cllr Joe Mason said the plans were not "asking for a blank cheque", but a fully costed plan demonstrating the council's ambition. Several Green and Conservative councillors argued that a fully costed plan would strengthen the council's hand when lobbying the Government for further funding.
The other side: Cllr Patti Mulcahy, Suffolk County Council's deputy lead for highways and community infrastructure, said the proposals were something out of a Harry Potter book or a "dystopian world where council funding is unlimited". She said: "In the real world, dreams and wishes do not address the current needs facing the residents of Suffolk."
Cllr Simon Aalders said the motion would tie the council into "long-term costs of having empty buses chugging around the countryside". The Reform administration, which holds the majority of votes in the council chamber, argued suitable structures were already in place to address bus-related issues.
For context: The Government has set aside funding and created new powers allowing local transport authorities such as Suffolk to franchise their own buses, setting fares and timetables themselves rather than subsidising existing operators. The motion's text noted this comes on top of a recent £27 million grant from the Department for Transport.
Matt Stott
The bottom line: Despite opposition councillors stressing the motion committed no actual spending, Suffolk's Reform administration has rejected calls to assess the cost of a minimum bus service for every parish, leaving the future of transport links to underserved villages undecided.
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