Dales bus service volunteers show way

The community transport service based in Hawes had been due to become a victim of North Yorkshire County Council’s attempts to save £69m to counter government cutbacks.

But in what is thought to be the first scheme of its kind in the country, the Upper Wensleydale Community Partnership has started operating the services for Hawes and the surrounding villages this week.

The county council’s executive member for public transport, Coun Clare Wood, confirmed that the scheme could now be used as a template to help ensure other bus services serving rural areas are not axed.

She said: “I am delighted that the local community has risen to this challenge. The county council is committed to maintaining rural bus services wherever possible and is looking for pioneering solutions such as this given the considerable financial constraints.

“We will be watching the success of this service very closely and expect to be able to use it as a model to inspire other communities to become involved in similar schemes.”

The service is being operated by volunteers in Hawes and villages in about a 10-mile radius, providing transport to residents for journeys including shopping trips and GP appointments.

The project will also preserve a scheduled bus service between Hawes and Gayle through Upper Wensleydale to the remote Garsdale Station, timed to meet trains arriving from Leeds and Carlisle.

Coun John Blackie, who represents the Upper Dales on the county council and helped set up the scheme, said: ”This new service is an imaginative and innovative solution to overcoming some of the extreme difficulties to accessing services from the deeply rural Upper Dales.”