Withdrawal of Bus Service to Audlem

This letter has been sent by Roger Millns, Chair of ADCA, to Rachel Bailey, Audlem Ward Councillor, in support of her attempts to get action on bus services to Audlem.

Dear Rachel,

Withdrawal of Bus Service to Audlem

This is to follow up our recent correspondence to formally confirm with you the detail of the resolution which ADCA passed at our AGM on the 13th September, 2024.

The 30 local people at our AGM who included trustees, staff and volunteers, passed an emergency resolution as follows:

'Audlem & District Community Action deplores the way in which the local bus service to Audlem and District was withdrawn without any prior knowledge of the local community, even though it appears that Council Officers had prior knowledge that the operator was considering unilaterally withdrawing early from their contractual commitments. This has had a major impact on many isolated local elderly people and their carers in our rural area who rely on it for shopping, to get to health appointments, visit community facilities and to meet with friends. It is agreed that the Chair of ADCA be authorised to write on ADCA's behalf to our local Cheshire East Councillor, to our MP and to the Leader and CEO of Cheshire East Council expressing our strong concerns on this matter with a demand for early action. Waiting until April 2025 to consider reinstating the local bus service is simply not acceptable. ADCA requests that interim arrangements be put in place as soon as possible.

ADCA's 10 local trustees and 42 volunteers work with and support over 100 older people who and 40 carers each week in our seven lunch/coffee and carers clubs. Many of these people have no car, live alone and rely on buses into Nantwich. We also know that the Audlem area has a higher than average number of people over 65 years of age and also has a higher number of people living in rural isolation than in Cheshire East as a whole. We are aware of several cases in which the withdrawal of the bus service has a severe detrimental effect including impacting on family carers ability to continuing to care for their loved ones.'

ADCA is agreeable to your using this resolution in your lobbying efforts on behalf of our local community.

Regards
Roger Millns
ADCA Chair
Email: roger.millns@adca.org.uk