FEARS have been raised residents in villages around Malvern could be left stranded without a lifeline service to the town’s shops, health centres, railway stations and tourist hot-spots following a bus operator’s decision to axe vital bus routes.
First Group’s controversial announcement to withdraw routes into Malvern and other parts of the county from Sunday, April 10 means residents in Welland, Malvern Wells, Poolbrook and The Hanleys could be devoid of bus services taking them to the town centre and surrounding areas if no alternative service is delivered.
Almost 100 worried residents voiced their concerns at a packed public meeting in Welland Village Hall on Thursday.
The current 362 and 364 bus routes will be scrapped under the operator’s plans – meaning services will no longer travel from Worcester to Malvern but instead passengers can travel between Worcester and Upton under new services.
Concerns are so deep a Welland mother has told the Observer losing the route could spell disaster for her daughter.
In a letter, which is also featured inside on the Letters to the Editor page, Emma Dauncey, 41, said: “I have an 18-year-old daughter who does not drive and attends college in Worcester by catching the train from Great Malvern.
“She also has a job in Malvern and will not be able get to work so she is going to have to hand her notice in.
“The train companies will lose out on money and local people from the rural villages that work in Malvern that are unable to drive will have to leave their jobs. “
An online petition has been launched aiming to restore services in affected Malvern villages and has been signed more than 500 residents.
Leading county and district councillor Tom Wells, who launched the petition, told the Observer he plans to lobby council chiefs in the coming weeks in the hope a similar bus service will remain in the villages affected.
“Not only is this bad news for these towns, which increasingly rely on tourism and visitors to support their local economies, but also those residents living along the route in Poolbrook, Malvern Wells, Welland and The Hanleys, who will also be denied access to public transport,” he said.
“Likewise, local residents without private transport will find it difficult to access health care at Malvern’s Health Centres and Community Hospital. Neither would there be any link to the railway stations.”
First Group said the decision made was a commercial one with the firm wanting to provide new services where there was ‘high demand’.
Sarah East, general manager for First Worcester, said: “We are introducing some changes to a number of our services from Sunday, April 10 to improve reliability and also to meet the demand of our customers.
“We are constantly looking at ways to improve the bus services that we provide to our local communities.
“We realise that some of the changes that are being introduced, especially where there are reductions in services, will not be popular with the few people that use them.
“But we need to concentrate our resources in areas where there is high demand for a bus service to attain sustainability and develop growth opportunities.”
