A proposed motion to bring buses back into public control in Barnsley was delayed yesterday after councillors amended it.<\/p>\n
In this proposal, the local council would take charge of bus routes, fares and standards, instead of individual operators.<\/p>\n
Matthew Topham, of the campaign group Better Buses for South Yorkshire, said: “The leaders of the region are dragging their heels.”<\/p>\n
The original motion asked the local council to commit to findings from the South Yorkshire Bus Review, which took place in 2020 and consulted nearly 6000 people, Mr Topham said.<\/p>\n
The review gave councillors three years to make a final decision on public control, with no progress so far.<\/p>\n
Greater Manchester set off their campaign in 2018, sparking other regions around the country to follow suit.<\/p>\n
This week, following an email action on the group’s Twitter page, over 200 local people contacted the Barnsley Cabinet asking them to pass the motion unamended.<\/p>\n
Cllr Steve Houghton, Labour leader of the council, said the costs of public control needed to be understood through a further preliminary assessment, before the proposed statutory assessment could go ahead.<\/p>\n
Mr Topham said prior to the council meeting that this type of setback would undermine what the campaign are wanting to achieve and, following the meeting, frustration continues.<\/p>\n
He said: “Public control was identified as the best way to deliver improvements to our services by the Mayor\u2019s bus review, with a statutory investigation identified as the next step.<\/p>\n
“Why have our councillors decided to leave the handbrake on and introduce yet another delay?”<\/p>\n
Many other organisations are involved in campaigning, including South Yorkshire Freedom Riders, Unite Community, Yorkshire Pensioners Association and national campaign organisation, We Own It.<\/p>\n
The news comes as last week Sheffield City Council passed the motion’s recommendations, with passenger protests outside Dan Jarvis’ mayoral office.<\/p>\n
After the action in Barnsley yesterday, Mr Topham said: “Once again, South Yorkshire is stuck in the slow lane.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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