n NEWS Another bus service under threat

A TRANSPORT campaigner says two councils need their heads banging together, after a row over funding left buses connecting Thornbury and Alveston to hospitals and workplaces in North Bristol facing the axe.

Bus services across the region are being hit by driver shortages, increased costs and local council budget cuts affecting subsidies.

A raft of cuts to 42 subsidised services was agreed by councillors at a meeting of the West of England Combined Authority in late January.

Some were later thrown a lifeline with temporary extensions funded by individual councils, until the end of the school year in some cases but only until May in others.

But now it has emerged that a row between South Gloucestershire and Bristol City councils will affect the Stagecoach number 10, which connects Thornbury and Alveston to Southmead Hospital,

Bristol Parkway, Filton, Aztec West and Avonmouth.

From April 1 the bus will stop inside the Bristol city border at Southmead Hospital – and will not come into South Gloucestershire.

That’s because the city council has agreed to subsidise buses within the city boundaries, but no further. South Gloucestershire has voted not to fund the route.

Transport campaigner Dave Redgewell said: “These are very important social economic bus services which are not commercially viable, but require subsidy from the West of England Combined Authority, through funding by the local councils.

“I thought Bristol would do something sensible instead of this. It’s pretty devastating really.”

Metro Mayor Dan Norris, who is in charge of coordinating the region's transport, said: “Bus funding is a complicated jigsaw.

Unfortunately local councils decided to reduce spending on council-subsidised buses via the transport levy. That’s why these services have been cut."

South Gloucestershire

Liberal Democrat group leader Claire Young said “conflicting information” about the funding the 10, which serves Marlwood and Castle Schools, was unsettling for passengers.

She said: “Local bus users aren’t interested in arguments about who funds the services, they just want those services to run – and not only until the elections are out of the way in May.

“The new Demand Responsive Transport service won’t have the capacity to replace the buses that are being lost.

"We all need to work together on this.”

A spokesman for South Gloucestershire Council said the authority had increased funding for buses through Weca, but contract prices had more than doubled.

Quarry House in Fishponds offers safe and nurturing care

We are now enabling close contact visits in the home, every resident is able to have an essential care giver, and there is no isolation required for new residents from the community. We still have a varied activity schedule which keeps life interesting and happy.

We also ensure:

• Strict Infection Control measures approved by Public Health England are fully implemented

• Care staff wear PPE at all times and we have ensured a high volume of supply

• Skilled nurses are on site 24/7 and respiratory equipment is at hand

• Safe face-to-face visits where possible

They said: “Given the critical nature of these supported bus services, the council has been working alongside Weca to mitigate the impacts of service reductions.

David Redgewell

"South Gloucestershire Council have also provided Weca with an additional £435,000 over the last two years to retain these vital services.

“South Gloucestershire Council proposed an amendment to the Weca budget last month to divert £800,000 in their spending to support more local bus routes and we look forward to the outcome of their urgent review into how this money can be spent to ensure that local people can continue to rely on local bus services to help them get to work, hospital appointments and to travel around the area.”

A HISTORIC ruin unearthed by a retired Olveston teacher and amateur archaeologists from Thornbury has featured on popular BBC history programme Digging for Britain.

The TV show, fronted by Professor Alice Roberts, joined local archaeologists and Bristol University experts unearthing the mystery of a 12th century hunting lodge, and its role in a period of history described as "19 years of hell" by an academic.

John Wilson-Smith, a former teacher at Castle School in Thornbury, bought the woodland site near the village when he retired, because of his love of nature.

He was intrigued by maps that showed an old chapel there, and in 2011 asked Thornbury Museum Archaeology Research Group, headed by Roger Howell, to take a look.

They realised it was an ancient hunting lodge – used by wealthy people 700 years ago.

John said: “The archaeology team from the museum have been working hard for 12 years – and have unearthed more than 5,000 items.