HANNINGTON BUS SERVICE UNDER THREAT

You may have read in the local papers or seen on TV that Northants County Council are having to look at implementing savings and are looking for comments on Phase 1 of their budget proposals as stated below:

“We have started to look at what we might need to change in terms of how we deliver our services and whether we need to reduce or stop anything we currently do.  Our proposals set out the start of our plans to deliver a balanced budget for 2018/19 to make sure we have enough money to deliver our key services.  In Phase 1, we are consulting early on proposals where we might need to meet contractual or procurement deadlines, where we may need to consult with staff, or where there is a chance of starting to make savings in 2017/18.  For Phase 1, these add up to a value of £9.6m.

 In December, we will launch Phase 2 of our consultation, which will be our consultation on the draft budget.  Phase 2 will also include consultation on the level of Council Tax we propose to set for 2018/19 and have more proposals on how we will manage next year’s budget”.

One of the suggestions is to remove the subsidies given for peak travel – details of the routes can be found on NCC’s website – however the first one listed is the diversion to serve Hannington at peak times.

The Parish Council was informed on Wednesday 15 November by Northants Highways that Stage Coach have told NCC that should this subsidy be removed, this would also effect the off peak services resulting in Hannington no longer having a bus service.

If you do not wish to lose the bus service, which the Parish Council fought hard to have re-instated, then PLEASE send your comments to NCC by 1 December 2017 via the web site:  www.northamptonshire.gov.uk  click on draft budget/have your say

Or write to: Draft Budget and Council Plan Consultation, Northamptonshire County Council, One Angel Square, Northampton, NN1 1ED.

You can also contact our County Councillor Judy Shephard: Windbreck, Butchers Lane, Boughton Northampton NN2 8SL            Email: JShephard@northamptonshire.gov.uk