Following news in October that Arriva planned to end the Number 6 bus service to Leicester for Syston residents, terminating the route short of Syston, Edward has been active, alongside local County Councillor, David Slater, in pressing Leicestershire County Council on the matter in the run-up to today's scheduled date for the service to end.
Edward has raised local people's concerns with Leicestershire County Council over the past month, in writing and in person, highlighting the impact of the loss of the service on local people living near Fosse Way, particularly elderly people or people with young children, who rely on it to get to and from Leicester or Thurmaston.
The Number 6 service is operated by Arriva as a purely commercial service, with no public subsidy from the County Council, so the decision on its operation is one that the company can take on commercial grounds based on their running costs and the number of people using it. This means LCC have no powers to instruct them to retain it, however it is vital that local people who use this service continue to have access to bus services.
Following the campaigning by local people, the Syston Town News, Councillor Slater, and Edward, Leicestershire County Council has confirmed that it will provide alternative public transport arrangements for those areas affected from today, ensuring that there is no gap in provision.
Edward said: "I know how important the Number 6 service is for a number of people in Syston, and, while the service is a commercial one run by a private company, it is important that those who would lose out through the removal of this service continue to have convenient access to public transport, and buses. Over the past month I, County Councillor Slater, and many others, have set out our concerns about this issue, and the need for alternative provision to be made for local people affected by this change.
I have raised this issue with Officers at Leicestershire County Council, and most recently directly with LCC Cabinet Member, Councillor Pam Posnett, and am pleased that LCC has listened to local people and confirmed to me that it intends to put alternative arrangements in place from when the Number 6 service is ended, to help give people access to alternative services."