The directors of a public transport initiative once hailed “the best recreational bus service in Europe” have condemned a move to spend £15,000 on a review of public transport in a national park rather than subsidising services as “a criminal waste of funds”.
The leaders of Moorsbus, which was set up more than 40 years ago to link towns and cities with the villages and attractions of the North York Moors National Park on Sundays and bank holidays when there were no other public transport services, said they had been forced to cancel services in September due to a lack of funding.
The move follows the national park authority rejecting appeals to bolster Moorsbus’ finances after receiving a one-off Government grant of £440,000 and instead spend £15,000 to fund a review of targeted transport provision in across the 1,436sq km area.
Members of the authority have insisted that providing Moorsbus with funding directly to keep services running would not be sustainable and that it is not the authority’s responsibility to be running public transport services.
In response, Moorsbus’ directors said while the original national parks’ legislation stated they were to be “for all, regardless of wealth or social class”, public transport access to the North York Moors had fallen to its lowest since the park was designated over 70 years ago.
In a letter to the authority’s elected members and Secretary of State appointees, the directors said Moorsbus had “increasingly shouldered sole
responsibility for providing accessibility to a large area of the national park”.
The directors stated: “It is responding to climate change, reducing CO 2 emissions, improving road safety, as well as contributing positively to health, well-being, social cohesion and supporting the local economy.”
Calling for the national park authority to agree funding some Moorsbus services next year, they highlighted how Moorsbus had been funded for many years by the national park authority, with a significant contribution from North Yorkshire County Council, until 2013, when funding from both ceased.
The directors stated: “A transport review by the park authority at £15,000, would be a criminal waste of funds when there is climate crisis and a cost-of-living crisis.
“If it was possible to make rural buses completely financially sustainable, then rural bus services would not be getting cut all over the UK. Moorsbus needs on-going funding from the park authority, not review.
“Investment would attract £1000s in match funding and donations every year, as it has for the past ten years.”
The park authority’s chairman, Jim Bailey, said the authority had committed in its management plan to improving access to the moors, especially for urban communities that do not find getting to the national park easy.
He said: “That is a key driver in our ambition to further the nation’s health and wellbeing.
“We do want to help Moorsbus, but the national park took the difficult decision some time ago to stop spending £300,000 a year running Moorsbus as it wasn’t our duty or obligation and that seems to be where members have stayed.
“If partners, or stakeholders like Moorsbus, could come together and help us with the duties set in our management plan, then there might be a way we could both work together.”
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