Eskdale residents hit by cuts to bus services

 

PEOPLE living in the Langholm area are being forced to cancel hospital appointments because public bus services have been cut, a councillor has revealed.

Annandale East and Eskdale Councillor Denis Male is furious that these patients are missing out on healthcare appointments due to the failures of the region’s bus transport network.

The independent councillor has demanded the bus situation is treated more seriously and that solutions are found quicker for residents.

He spoke in strong terms at last week’s meeting of Annandale and Eskdale area committee – nearly ten months on from the controversial bus network changes.

Councillor Male reminded council chiefs that elected members had already voted unanimously to refer the Langholm situation to the economy and infrastructure committee for investigation — and he was frustrated more progress had not been made.

He said: “This was a decision of Dumfries and Galloway Council. There were no abstentions and it was given to the economy and infrastructure committee to start to look at this.

“I think that’s where it’s got to go — and it’s got to be taken forward.

“Langholm and Canonbie and the whole lower Eskdale area are absolutely isolated from this region, and people now trying to get to hospital are having to cancel appointments because they can’t get there.

“This is a serious issue that needs to be not just fobbed off but really taken forward.”

Karen Brownlie, the assistant director of transport and infrastructure, reassured Councillor Male that the situation in Langholm would be addressed as part of a wider transport review.

The issue stems from the decision by Stagecoach West Scotland to withdraw from Dumfries and Galloway bus network last summer.

Left without a commercial operator, DGC Buses stepped in as operator of last resort.

However, they have not been able to fully plug all the bus service gaps and places like Langholm have been among the worst affected.

Up to £250,000 has been set aside to fund a specialist review of bus provision across the region and to assess the potential for a council-run transport network.