Stocksmoor and Thurstonland bus services must be improved for better quality of life - Yorkshire Post Letters

It is not right that in this day and age, residents of the villages of Stocksmoor and Thurstonland in Huddersfield, should be denied public transport access to a GP surgery or even a shop of any kind, because they do not own a vehicle, do not or can no longer drive.

Kirkburton and Holmfirth are only just over three miles away in each direction and have all the services we need but the steep roads at each end of the villages mean these facilities are inaccessible without a vehicle.

It seems that almost every week, another person joins the list of those who have had to cease driving because of their age or other health problems.

A great deal of work has been done on a proposal for a new bus service between Kirkburton and Holmfirth via Stocksmoor and Thurstonland.

Surveys have been professionally organised and evaluated. Results have confirmed the need for a bus. A timetable has been drawn up and all that is required now is support from the Government via the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to get it up and running.

The well-elderly were fastened indoors for nearly 18 months when all their needs had to be delivered to their doorsteps. Now the restrictions have been lifted, they are anxious to start living without the social isolation and loneliness they experienced in lockdowns.

They should be able to go out and about on public transport independently and confidently when they wish to do so, do their own shopping and meet up with friends in neighbouring villages.

It is important for good mental health that they are able to access their GP, registered dentist, pharmacy, Post Office, cash machine, library and a variety of shops as they wish. They deserve to be able to travel safely by public transport which has always been denied them.

People in nearby villages have regular buses to many areas of West Yorkshire even though they have shops etc on their high streets but Stocksmoor residents can only use the randomly timetabled 321 bus to Huddersfield via a tortuous route and then have to trawl any shopping the length and breadth of the town centre to catch the two hourly bus to return home.

“Levelling up the North” does not mean anything specific to our residents, but if some crumbs from the table of those administering the millions of pounds allocated could drop on us and remedy our inequality of services, it would mean a great deal, and would provide much improvement to the quality of life in Stocksmoor and Thurstonland.