After 18 years of waiting for a bus, Greystoke residents are over the moon following the announcement of a new 105 bus service which will connect the village with Penrith.
Campaigners heard the news on Monday at a public meeting at Greystoke Castle, attended by Mark Hodgkiss, scheduled bus service officer for Westmorland and Furness Council; councillor Judith Derbyshire; and MP Tim Farron.
The planned new 105 Greystoke to Penrith Monday to Saturday service is set to improve links from villages to the west of Penrith, also including Motherby and Newbiggin, where residents have also long been campaigning for a service.
Pam Wood, chair of the Bus Action Group, told the Herald: “We are thrilled that the outcome of our campaigning sees us better connected to Penrith and the public transport networks there.We do feel listened to by the local authority, our councillor Judith Derbyshire and our very supportive MP Tim Farron.
“The difference it will make to us is huge. We know that some older people have been forced to sell up and move closer to shops and facilities in Penrith, we know that our young people have been reliant on parents for lifts into town and we know that people who work in Penrith have to drive there.
“The new service will help our community be better connected. We are also pleased that we will be better able to bring people into the village on the bus.
“We have so many businesses — quirky workshops, a great pub and the open air swimming pool during the summer, not to mention Greystoke Castle and all the events that are being held there. We’re a beautiful and welcoming place with a lot to offer and lots of great B&Bs and places to stay.”
Pam, who is an NHS manager, has been leading the local campaign group for the last 18 months. She added: “We are absolutely thrilled. It is fantastic, but we are really going to have to use it, that is one of the key messages. It is only one year of funding. Use it or lose it, that is the message.”
Tim Farron, who attended the meeting on Monday remotely, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that Westmorland and Furness Council are restoring a bus service from Greystoke to Penrith. This decision is testament to the fantastic hard work and campaigning of local residents led by Pam Wood, and also local councillor Judith Derbyshire.
“While it’s fantastic that our local Lib Dem council are investing in bus services across Westmorland and Furness, the funding they receive from central government is completely unfair. In Cumbria the funding for bus services works out at just £9 per head, compared to the £24 per head which Lancashire receives.”
He added:”I want all our communities to have access to a regular bus service, so I will be urging government ministers in Westminster to give our council the funding it needs to help make this a reality.”
What the group was hoping for initially was additional stops on the X4/5 service, but the solution of the 105 has been welcomed.
Councillor John Murray, Westmorland and Furness Council cabinet member for transport and regulatory services, said: “I know what the people in Greystoke were after, which was the bus to divert into Greystoke, make stops there and then get back on to the main route.
“The 105 gets them closer to the solution they have been looking for. It is not exactly what they are hoping for, but I think what will certainly happen is we will get a much better idea of the demand from Greystoke itself, using the new 105 service and if that is getting filled up every time it runs, it is well worth going back to Stagecoach and saying ‘look, actually there is unfulfilled demand here’.”
John said the 105 service, expected to come into operation next year, combines a number of things that the council has been trying to do in this area.
“It is a really clever bit of timetabling, that Mark Hodgkiss has come up with here, you get improved links from the villages west of Penrith. You also get a Monday to Saturday service from Shap, but also it is able to provide a North Lakes School bus in the afternoon.
“Being able to restore the afternoon bus run there is another big plus for us. What’s certainly true about these bus routes, that are being put in now, is that the funding is for a fixed short-term for a year for these routes. There is the opportunity to establish that these routes are viable.
“We need people to be aware of them and to change their habits to an extent and use the bus instead.”
