AN independent public meeting was held in the Eagle House Hotel, Launceston, on Wednesday, August 15, to discuss the future of community transport in the town.

The meeting follows the recent announcement that the Little Red Bus (LRB), run by the Launceston Community Transport Partnership (LCTP), is to cease operation at the end of this month.

Around 40 people, including a few LRB committee members, turned out to express their concerns and discuss a way forward. The meeting was chaired by Les Whaley, a former LRB driver who now works for Age UK’s TAP (Transport Access People) service, along with drivers Victoria Wilson and Richard Bevan.

First on the agenda was who would take over the running of LRB to ensure its future.

Les put forward his suggestion to the room: “In the past the Little Red Bus has had support from the town council through grants and I have been around to a few businesses in the town recently and many have expressed an interest in chipping in through sponsorship, which is promising — there is support out there.

“I work with Age UK and have spoken with the CEO, Anne Lewis. She has said they are prepared to take on the service in this area but she would need local volunteers to run it as they don’t want this to be a take over — Age UK would act as an umbrella group with the service being run by a local team of volunteers.”

He said Age UK would take on the maintenance of vehicles as well as costs for MOT, tax etc. and ensure all drivers were insured and trained.

Les said he believed Age UK was the best way forward for the service: “A similar service in Fowey was taken on by Age UK and they have been very successful — it just proves it works.”

However, town councillor and former LRB trustee Paul O’Brien told those present Age UK wasn’t the only option available to the current LRB committee and he believed the decision should come from them.

He said: “The committee have also spoken to Holsworthy Rural Community Transport [HRCT]. I used to be a trustee until quite recently and haven’t been a committee member for 18 months now but I am aware that discussions are underway with the Holsworthy group as to a possible take over.

“I think it is up to the current committee to follow that up and gain all the relevant information before a decision on who could take on the service is made. I commend what you are doing here but it isn’t your decision to make.”

A member of the public asked if there was ‘something specific’ the meeting hoped to achieve on the day and Les suggested a new committee be formed to ‘look afresh’ at what would be required to make the service a success.

However Emily Dunford, a Cornwall Council representative from the passenger transport unit, said it would be better if the group was able to put their points to the existing LRB committee to prevent an overlap of services.

Emily said: “Cornwall Council are supportive of a service in Launceston but from an efficiency view you don’t want to be paying for the same thing twice. You need to look at existing routes and ensure you don’t overlay public transport already in place.”

She added: “Obviously this conversation today has been useful but I would plan to discuss the points raised with the existing committee — you want the two plans to intertwine otherwise you will end up getting a bus A and B!”

As the current buses are to be sold as part of the LRB closure, Emily suggested the service could ‘strip its service back’ to one bus, work out the cost of running a bus with added admin expenses etc. and once it was up and running look at the demand and see whether it was financially viable to bring on another bus.

This led to a discussion of finance. Although a number of local businesses have expressed a desire to support any new or continued service the meeting heard how financing LRB was a costly business and was something that would need to be thought out.

Mayor of Launceston Margaret Young told the meeting how a £3,000 grant was given by the town council to the LRB committee in April for the current year — this money had already been spent on running costs which she said was ‘a drop in the ocean’ of how much it would cost to run such a venture.

She said: “You need to be able to make the books balance because if you can’t it wont be sustainable.

“A trip to Truro should have a full bus load to make it pay but if you only go with half a load — which has been happening — you only make half the money needed and that is where problems start to arise with financing.”

Deputy mayor and town council representative on the LRB committee Dave Gordon added: “The committee truly hopes it is taken up and continued and is in talks with the two organisations mentioned previously. They have heard from Age UK but are yet to hear back from the Holsworthy group and it is the committee’s responsibility to hear back from them before they take a decision.

“The situation hasn’t changed and no one is hiding behind doors — they are still in negotiations and it is my hope, and sincere belief, that someone will take it over.”

Regarding finance he added: “It is a charity but it needs to be run like a business so it can make enough ‘profit’ to cover costs and be sustainable — is there anyone here with a solution to the LRB problems?”

Les said Age UK has the commitment to maintain the service but Cllr Gordon added: “Respectfully so does Holsworthy [HRCT].”

A member of the public raised their concerns that discussions over finance were ‘muddying the water’. Les said he didn’t agree: “I think there are many here who want to know whether they will have a bus at the end of August.”

There was a consensus from the room.

However the man added: “The whole of Launceston can say they want a bus service but without the money it can’t happen.”

Les concluded by asking what the public thought the next step should be: “We can walk away now or do you want us to talk this through with the LRB committee? We don’t want this to be them and us!”

Cllr Gordon said if Les, Victoria and Richard wanted to put proposals to the committee during its meeting on Monday, August 20, where the final decision on the bus’ future was to be made, they were welcome to.

Cllr O’Brien added: “I wish you all the luck in the world, but, I was at the meeting when it was first decided to create the Little Red Bus out of thin air. I spent many weeks travelling to various rural parishes and asking people if they would use the service, all said they would. Be wary of people who say ‘we want it’, because there is a great difference between them saying they want it and them actually using it.”

Following the Monday meeting of the Little Red Bus committee a spokesperson for the Launceston Community Transport Partnership said: “The Little Red Bus continues until at least the end of September and, hopefully, after that. We are talking to other organisations about our future and will hold a public meeting when these negotiations are completed and decisions are made by the trustees and management committee.

“There is a full programme of trips for September so we hope you will continue to support us and book for one or more of these trips. We would like to thank everyone for the messages of support we have received. We all care about the bus and the services we offer to all our passengers. These messages have spurred us on to keep the Little Red Bus running around Launceston and surrounding areas.”