Potential cuts to 14 bus services in the High Peak

There are 14 routes serving the High Peak which could be taken out of operation and replaced with a weekly shopper bus.

One disabled resident in Chinley, who did not wish to be named, said losing the buses would have a serious impact on her independence.

She said: “If there were no buses serving Chinley I wouldn’t be able to get to my doctors and hospital appointments - I can’t use the train because I can’t get down the steps at the station so I will be trapped in my house as taxis are too dear.”

A consultation is being held by the county council until Sunday, April 24, to get people’s views on what the services mean to them.

The proposals put forward by the council include:

To withdraw all £4.6million of funding for buses paid for by DCC - 139 county wide.

To withdraw all funding for the county’s six community transport Dail-A-Bus services − just over £1m.

To put on a Demand Responsive Transport service in the place of subsidised and DAB services and to put on a new Door-to-Door Plus service for people who, through mobility difficulties, would be unable to use the proposed DRT service.

This service would be limited with around ten wheelchair-friendly minibuses to serve the county.

The Chinley resident said: “We need to fight to save the bus, I understand the council has to make cutbacks but people do use the buses.

“The services offer a lifeline to people and I worry that people will become isolated and cut off if there is no bus routes into town anymore.”

Councillor Dean Collins, cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure, said: “By 2020 the funding we get from Government will be more than a third lower than in 2010.

“These cuts are unprecedented and mean we have no choice about scaling back most of the services we provide, particularly when, by law, we do not have to provide them.”

Hard copies of the consultation can be found in libraries or online at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/have_your_say

The affected services include:

58 Macclesfield - Buxton

60 Disley -Whaley Bridge - New Mills

62/62A Hayfield - Thornsett - New Mills - Marple

63 Whaley Bridge - Stonesheads

64 Glossop - New Mills - Whaley Bridge

76/77 Buxton Town Services

190 Buxton - Chinley - Whaley Bridge

193 Buxton - Tideswell - Taddington

389 New Mills Town Services

441 Ashbourne - Sterndale - Buxton

442 Ashbourne - Hartington - Buxton

Derbyshire County Council also supports some evening and Sunday journeys on the 61 skyline 199 and Transpeak.