Hemyock

Several parishioners have contacted me about Bus No 20.  Somerset County Council is withdrawing its subsidy from the service.   

I have contacted Somerset County Council who has told me . . . 

There is only a slight change to service 20 as a result of the withdrawal of our funding, and this will only be implemented in the summer once the Colleges have broken up. The change is that West Buckland will be removed from the route, the service will continue to Wellington and Taunton. 

I contacted Devon County Council who said. . . 

We have no plans to reduce the service within Devon. In order to verify our ongoing passenger data we recently conducted a sample survey which confirmed that the service is generally well used, particularly the Honiton - Taunton section, and is at present capable of meeting our support criteria. If Somerset go ahead with their withdrawal, therefore, we shall seek operational savings which do not affect Devon passengers (such as withdrawing from West Buckland and reviewing the route round Wellington) but would otherwise aim to absorb the additional cost until further notice.  I hope our continuing commitment to the current level of service reassures Devon residents along the Service 20 route.

 

Donna Evans
Hemyock Parish Clerk