Published on June 23rd, 2018 | by Clerk to Aynho PC

Closure of 499 Bus Service

From July 21st 2018 the bus service will cease running. At our recent Annual Village Meeting Aynho’s Northamptonshire County Councillor, Rebecca Breese, explained the financial predicament of Northamptonshire County Council has resulted in their decision to remove the bus subsidy and close the service on 21st July.

Aynho Parish Council along with other affected parish councils have fully examined whether an alternative service could be created, the amount to fund over concessions and fares received would be in the region of £70,000 per annum. A survey shows the service is used ~210 times by Aynho residents monthly, equating to ~20% of all travellers. The potential cost to keep a service could be ~£14,000 per annum. Our precept (income) for Aynho Parish Council is £22,920.

Further discussions on a very basic service of one bus in and out of Banbury continue, although this too looks to be both unaffordable and impractical as a service.

It is therefore our intention to have a gathering on:

Saturday 7th July 2018 10:30am to 11:30am, Aynho Village Hall

Free coffee and cakes

For users of the 499 service, volunteers and residents. The aim is to introduce residents and users to each other so they can arrange mutually acceptable travel arrangements for example: Car Sharing, Car Pooling, Taxi sharing……

Please bring or share any further constructive solutions: clerk@aynho.org

Below is an questionnaire which can be downloaded and emailed back.

Aynho Parish Council