BASED on Cheshire East Council’s response following the bus consultation review, it seems they have taken little notice of many of the responses they have received.

They seem to think it’s acceptable to reduce a bus service even when it will directly result in some people either losing their jobs or having to reduce their hours.

How exactly is that supposed to help the local economy?

Do they want businesses in Cheshire East to fail because they can’t employ people who don’t have their own cars?

They also keep insisting the 27 service to Macclesfield will remain two-hourly when currently the gap between services is up to two hours (one service is 90 minutes after the previous one) and there are seven return workings per day, when they are proposing to reduce that to five return workings per day and the gap between services will be no less than two hours (over 3.5 hours between the second to last bus and the last bus.) They also say the service has been two-hourly since July 2016 but omit to say the two-hourly timetable introduced in July 2016 was supposed to be an emergency measure following the collapse of GHA Coaches, which previously operated the service to an hourly frequency.

The consultation also asked if the flexible Little Bus scheme should be made chargeable for bus pass holders so that the scheme would be expanded.

However, it now seems the scheme will in fact be cut back with the charge being introduced anyway.

Just when you think Cheshire East Council can’t get any worse, they succeed in finding a way of getting even worse.

Jen D’ Angelo Knutsford