‘More cash for our minibuses’ appeal

Mar 10 2008 by Andrew Flynn, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

AT the recent Kirklees Council budget meeting a proposal was made by the Labour group to invest £50,000 in Kirklees’ first ever Community Transport scheme, which is based at the Denby Dale Centre.

Sadly the proposal did not gain all-party support.

The centre has three fully accessible minibuses which at present provide a very limited “Ring-and-Ride” door to door bus service for 150 people in Denby Dale and Kirkburton who cannot easily use ordinary public transport. The organisers know that the service is needed in other areas of Kirklees, but as they currently receive no funding, they cannot expand the scheme.

So that the buses are of maximum benefit to the community, the centre also runs a group hire scheme whereby nearly 60 non-profit groups (this time from throughout Kirklees) use the minibuses to enhance their own activities.

The service is very popular and much-needed, but it now needs further support if it is to expand and benefit more people who are waiting for this kind of help. Other funding is possible from external agencies (like the lottery, for instance), but they all want to see a basic commitment from the local authority before they are willing to give money.

In Calderdale, for example, their Community Transport scheme was able to get well over £300,000 lottery funding because the council was already supporting the venture with modest annual grants.

Community Transport can be a solution to issues of isolation and exclusion that mainstream buses cannot tackle and the Transport Bill now going through Parliament recognises this.

We now need Kirklees to bring this vision to reality in our area.

It is not too late to put this modest sum of money into the budget to ensure this essential service becomes available for people throughout Kirklees. I would ask councillors of all parties to consider this very carefully.

R Brook

Upper Cumberworth