SOBBS
(SAVE OUR BONAWE BUS SERVICE)
At a packed meeting of Ardchattan Community Council on 26th January 2012 our community learned of the threat to cut the 408 bus service within the month.
The proposal, as far as we understand it, is that the only services retained will be the school buses on school days, and there will be an "appointments and shopping service" comprising a bus leaving Bonawe at 11.30 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, which will return leaving Oban mid afternoon.
It is of serious concern that this information was not made available when it was first formally proposed in an Executive meeting of Argyll & Bute Council sometime around April / May 2011, that it was not shared with ALL elected members, and that it was deliberately kept out of the public arena until 3 weeks prior to the cuts being introduced. This now restricts the opportunity of allowing the community to participate in an accountable and transparent debate, which would in normal circumstances deliver a democratic and acceptable outcome to the community the council is supposed to serve.
This is contrary to the participatory ethos of the community planning partnership, contrary to policies surrounding the sustainability of sustaining rural communities, contrary to Scottish Government policies of community engagement and discriminating against those who live in rural area.
Bus services, like schools, are pivotal lifeline facilities.
The only way to save this bus service is to lobby everyone you can and Ardchattan Community Council have supplied the information for you to send personal letters which are here
Please fill complete a short questionnaire, which can found here
all results will be collated by the Community Council and included in their submission on behalf of the community.
To contact Ardchattan Community Council : Iain MacDonald :
inveresregan@lineone.net
we will try to keep you updated through these pages.
