RESIDENTS in many of our rural villages around Peterborough have joined forces to seek the reinstatement of a regular bus service. Their campaign has the backing of MP Shailesh Vara who attended a meeting called by Wittering Parish Council where he heard first-hand the difficulties faced by many residents living in Wittering, Castor, Ailsworth and Wansford.
He was told the absence of a proper bus service is impacting people trying to get to work, take children to school and attend medical appointments as well as shopping and socialising. The situation is so bad that people living in Wittering feel they sometimes have little choice but to walk over three miles alongside the A1 to Stamford or Peterborough to attend medical and dental appointments, while lorries and cars speed past at 70 mph or more.
Parish council chairman John Bradshaw accompanied Shailesh to the A1 so he could experience for himself the extreme dangers faced by residents (see picture). "The situation is totally unacceptable," he said afterwards. "People are becoming isolated in many of these villages and it is appalling they have to walk alongside the A1 on a narrow and dangerous pathway to reach their GP surgery or dental practice while traffic hurtles past. Common sense needs to prevail and I hope the necessary funds will be forthcoming to reinstate a regular bus service."
As a matter of urgency Shailesh has taken up the matter with Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) and Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of Peterborough City Council.
The campaign is gathering momentum with support coming from RAF Wittering, where the absence of a bus service means many of the families of its 1,000 personnel struggle to cope day to day with lack of reliable transport facilities.
Also attending the meeting was Andrew Willey, our Conservative candidate for Glinton and Castor ward in next year's city council election. He told us: "We will ensure the voices of our rural residents are heard and support all and any moves to find a resolution to these real, and compelling concerns."
