Bus services under threat as council '˜slash and burn'

Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) is looking to save £170 million over the next four years, and authority leader Coun Martin Hill has admitted that ‘some services will stop running’ across 
the county as a whole.

LCC has a list of 169 routes across the county which receive a subsidy, including 21 ‘CallConnect’ services which are fully subsidised 
by the council.

These routes include bus stops in Louth, Mablethorpe, Sutton on Sea, Alford, Binbrook, Saltfleetby, Saltfleet, Huttoft, Theddlethorpe 
to name a few.

The listed routes also include connections between our area and other popular destinations including Lincoln, Grimsby, Wragby 
and Market Rasen.

The latest proposals come on top of a reduction in council subsidies for school buses, and previous reports that there will be a huge reduction in services between Louth and Mablethorpe from private bus company Grayscroft, 
taking effect next week.

Coun Hill previously told the Leader: “We are now being asked to find another £170 million in the next four years with our government grant reducing to 10 per cent of what it was only a short time ago. Frankly, this is 
not sustainable.

“We also face considerable extra costs [...] and there will be a serious impact on the services we fund 
and deliver. No area is immune from this and some of our services will stop 
running entirely.”

A spokesman for the council said that the council uses CallConnect as a bus service which, if any companies pull out of any routes, can be used as a replacement for those areas.

County Councillor Sarah Dodds (Lab), who represents Louth North, told the Leader that the “slash and burn” approach would be a huge loss for our area, with access to healthcare being of 
particular concern.

She added that there would “not be a good outcome” for Mablethorpe if bus routes were cut, as the town 
is currently also at risk of losing its secondary school.