Perthshire Conservative politicians have asked the managing director of Stagecoach East Scotland to ‘think again’ on plans to reduce the bus service in the Carse of Gowrie.
Murdo Fraser MSP and Councillor Angus Forbes, who represents the Carse of Gowrie, were reacting to the proposal by Stagecoach to make changes to the existing 16 service connecting the villages in the Carse, and also, changes to the X7 service which runs between Perth Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.
Commenting, Mr Fraser said: “We believe that these changes will have a seriously detrimental impact on the lives of our constituents who rely upon a regular bus service. The number 16 service could easily be described as a lifeline, as the only bus that connects the villages of the Carse and smaller rural settlements. It is also the bus that serves the only GP centre in the Carse of Gowrie.
“With the proposed closure of the number 16 service during the day, this will mean that local residents without access to private transport will effectively be cut off from GP appointments. There will be a similar issue for Invergowrie residents who lost their GP practice last year and will have significant difficulties in accessing their new practice in Ancrum Road, Dundee. Local residents are rightly worried about these plans and we then decided to take the decision to write to the Managing Director of Stagecoach East Scotland, Douglas Robertson, to outline our concerns about the issue.
“We are asking to meet Mr Robertson to outline our concerns in more detail and ask Stagecoach to think again on this plan.”
And Councillor Forbes added: “I know there are a lot of concerns in the Carse of Gowrie about these plans by Stagecoach. The village of Kingoodie has a large number of elderly residents who will now be entirely cut off from all basic services if the proposals go through.
“The Carse of Gowrie has an expanding population, and we have been told by local residents that the bus service is one of the aspects of local life that attracted them to the area. There is also concern from local employers, such as Glendoick Nursery, The Horn, Stewarts of Tayside, and others, that their staff will not be able to get to work without public transport. There are similar concerns with the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie. We need a rethink from Stagecoach.”
