Plans for electric bus services in rural Mid Suffolk paused

It's over worries about funding

Headquarters of Suffolk County Council and Babergh and Mid Suffolk district councils
Author: Siobhan Middleton, LDRSPublished 7th Feb 2023

Plans for low-carbon buses serving rural areas of Mid Suffolk have been paused, with one opposition councillor suggesting this shows a focus on finances over need.

Mid Suffolk District Council’s cabinet decided to put plans for rural electric buses on hold yesterday, with every cabinet member voting for the proposal.

The decision was based on the lack of evidence coming from similar schemes elsewhere, as many were still in the pilot phase when research was carried out.

Mid Suffolk’s Green and Liberal Democrat group suggested setting aside £820,000 of funding for two years for electric buses in rural areas last February, and this was agreed by the council.

Liberal Democrat Cllr John Field said: “Are we narrowly focusing our idea of viability on whether the revenue covers running costs?

“Transport For London (TfL) isn’t viable in the sense that it gains revenue that covers costs, but it is if you consider the fact it allows people who don’t have cars to get to jobs.”

Cllr Harry Richardson, deputy council leader and cabinet member for economic growth, replied: “We are not a statutory transport provider.

“Whereas TfL can rely on the government to provide the excess funding is needs, those costs would be incurred entirely by us as a district council.”

There is no fixed date for the plans to restart but officers at the meeting explained they will continue to contact stakeholders and consider the scheme’s viability.

Cllr Andrew Mellen, leader of Mid Suffolk’s Green and Liberal Democrat group, said: “The initial agreement on this project came from a full council meeting, so shouldn’t it be a full council meeting decision to pause it?”

Cllr Richardson stated the report to full council would have made it clear that decisions were delegated to cabinet.

Before the meeting, Cllr Mellen described the officer’s recommendation to pause the initiative as “disappointing” and commented that “people out in the villages are crying out for a decent bus service now”.

A cross-party working group looking into the scheme agreed that pausing was the right thing to do.

The group also suggested its roll-out could be linked to the new Gateway 14 business park in Stowmarket.

The idea is that the creation of many jobs at Gateway 14 would produce a clear target audience when promoting the service, increasing its likelihood of success.

Cllr Jessica Fleming, cabinet member for the environment, said: “I think it is absolutely right to put this on hold.

“We need to explore the operating model, transport case and technology further.

“It would be irresponsible to commit a large amount of public money to this scheme without having done so.”

Gateway 14 is part of Freeport East, a set of low-tax, low-regulation zones given the green light in December 2021.

The first company to secure a plot at Gateway 14 is The Range. It began work on a distribution centre this year and is expected to provide 1,650 jobs.

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