THE fight to maintain The Little Red Bus service in Launceston goes on, despite the recent announcement it is to be wound up.

Mr Les Whaley, former driver of The Little Red Bus, approached Launceston Town Council during its recent full meeting to ask why a public meeting had not been held to discuss ways to save the service. Mr Whaley expressed his disappointment that more had not been done. He said: “I was saddened to hear about The Little Red Bus ceasing but I was surprised that the council did not hold a public meeting to look at ways of supporting it. I understand that Scott Mann [MP for North Cornwall] has been in touch with two councillors and is looking to do an exploration into options for the service.

“Many people rely on The Little Red Bus because they don’t have a car of their own due to illness, health etc. My question is, can’t we hold a public meeting so the public can get involved?”

However, mayor of Launceston Margaret Young assured Mr Whaley the council had always hoped The Little Red Bus would succeed and had, on numerous occasions, provided donations to the service but added that it was not the council’s responsibility to hold a public meeting. She said: “The Little Red Bus wasn’t council run, it was an independent committee who managed it — or not as the case may be.

“Money has been given in the form of grants at the request of the council in the hopes that The Little Red Bus would succeed, but unfortunately it didn’t.”

However, following the meeting Joan Heaton raised her concerns at what she believed was a ‘lack of engagement’ shown by the town council. She said: “I attended the Launceston Town Council meeting and I was surprised at the lack of engagement from the town council on this issue. I understand that there could not have been a public consultation on the demise of the Little Red Bus as it was not run by Launceston Town Council and, as having charity status, this was not a statutory requirement. To be quite honest, our parishioners do not care about all this — they only care about the loss of a community asset that many relied upon. They are the ones who will suffer. Our representatives should be addressing these needs wherever they can.”

She added: “Transport in our rural area is crucially important and the Little Red Bus was a wonderful concept. We hope that it can be taken on by another organisation.”

The Little Red Bus is a charity and the decision to close was taken by the trustees and committee members because the scheme was not making a profit — with many trips being run at a loss — and had become ‘unsustainable’.

Following the decision to close the service, a number of committee meetings have been held and there has been interest shown by a number of community groups in taking the service on, however this is at an early stage.

Deputy mayor Cllr Dave Gordon, who sits on the Little Red Bus committee as a town council representative, said there is ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. He said: “It is my hope along with many others — including the town council — that one of the interested community groups will step forward to keep a service running.

“All members of the committee and its trustees made the decision to close the service with a heavy heart, The Little Red Bus has been an integral part of our community, however such a service that continues to lose money, despite being financially supported for many years by the town council and other groups, left the committee with no option.”

MP for North Cornwall Scott Mann has expressed his interest in The Little Red Bus and responded to its closure by saying his ‘door is open’ to discussions with the trustees to look for a way forward. He said: “I’m obviously disappointed that the situation with The Little Red Bus has reached this point. There are good examples of community transport schemes around Cornwall that have been able to continue to operate in a cost neutral or profitable way. Community transport is vital in our rural areas and will be essential as Cornwall Council move to a ‘One Public Transport’ system. My door is open to the trustees for a open dialogue about the way forward for this important service to Launceston and the surrounding community.”

Joan Philp, one of the trustees since it started in 2008, and currently chairman of the management committee, confirmed The Little Red Bus is looking to close but talks are underway with other groups for a possible take over. She said: “Yes it’s possible that we will be closing. We are going until the end of August at least. That was decided by the trustees and those of us that want to keep it going at a meeting last week. There will be a decision before the end of August.

“We are in talks with the Holsworthy community bus company and we will be talking to Wadebridge about one of those two possibly taking over. That’s the situation at the moment.”