Barnton Busses Face the Axe

Arriva has announced they are consulting on the closure of their Winsford and Maccelsfield bus depots this month. If this goes ahead all busses operated by Arriva in Northwich will be stopped, including the number 4 bus serving Barnton which has already faced massive cuts over the last few years. Arriva stated that, despite negotiating with both Cheshire East and West, the councils did not provide funding to protect our bus routes.

We need councillors who will stick up for the rural bus services which connect our towns and villages together. Council subsidies to operate these routes have been cut time and again, leaving villages like Little Leigh and Bartington with no bus service at all. We can not and will not let this happen in Barnton, and are fighting to ensure that your busses are protected for years to come.

Instead of seeing busses as a commercial entity, they need to be run for the public good. They are a source of freedom for the young and old, only made more important at a time of climate crisis when traffic and pollution in Barnton are worse than ever before.

Public transport must be easily accessible for everyone, no matter where they live. It’s time that our rural bus routes were given the same priority as those in Chester, after years of us being short changed.