Stroud bus cuts will have an "unsustainable" impact on bookshop
The owner of The Yellow Lighted Bookshop has had to hire more staff after Stagecoach route changes
Last updated 13th Feb 2023
Owner of The Yellow Lighted Bookshop, Hereward Corbett, is worried that planned Stagecoach cuts to Stroud buses will have an "unsustainable" impact on his business.
Previous scheduling changes have led to Mr Corbett changing his opening hours and hiring more staff as his employees could no longer get to work on time or catch a bus home.
This saw a 5% increase in his costs, which he has to balance out with 10% more sales. But on top of that, Hereward Corbett says bus cuts makes it harder for his customers to visit. When the direct bus from Cheltenham to Nailsworth was cut they saw a drop in customers.
Now with Stagecoach West set to introduce new cuts to buses serving Stroud, routes such as the 63 and the 67 will lose more than 50% of its service.
Lousie Ineson who works for Mr Corbett, relies on the 63 to get between Nailsworth and Stroud, so she can get to and from her house in Cheltenham.
With the buses now scheduled to come hourly, rather than every half an hour, she'll miss her Stroud to Cheltenham connection and be forced to change at Gloucester. This means she'll have to get an extra bus, adding 50 minutes to an already 3 hour round trip.
Hereward Corbett says they'll try to combat the effect cuts will have on Louise and his bookshop, but thinks it's "unsustainable to me, when she took the job there were buses every half an hour or so and it was a relatively easy journey.
"Over the years, the service has got worse and worse, routes have been cut and I worry how long she'll be able to do the job that she loves and that we love her to do."
Mr Corbett added that he hopes it'll have a minimal impact as he recognises Louise Ineson is a community asset, saying " she's an important figure in the local community in Nailsworth, because everyone know Louise, the lovely lady in the bookshop."
Cuts will "take away opportunities" for Mr Corbett's son
It's not just Hereward's bookshop but also his family's life that'll be changed by Stagecoach's cuts. His 22 year-old son, was finding a new lease of life after the pandemic and excessive lockdowns took its toll on his mental health.
He's now finishing his degree at the University of Bath, but it's at risk. Mr Corbett says he heavily relies on getting the bus to and from Stroud train station, "buses are essential for him to go to University, do voluntary work that he wants to do and plan for his life and career.
"It will take away those opportunities from him.
"For his University life it means he'll have to sleep overnight of sofa's and friends floors ... he'd be relying on the generosity of friends ... it puts an extra complexity on his life that he doesn't need."
Hereward's son also volunteers in Tetbury at a production studio. Mr Corbett says it's important to his future career and has helped him to "blossom as a character" but bus cuts "will probably bring it to an end."
Left frustrated by the impact the bus cuts are having on his family and his business, Hereward Corbett set up a petition, which nearly 1,500 people have signed, asking for Stagecoach West to cancel their planned changes.
"Once again residents are being left isolated" by cuts
When we asked Gloucestershire County Council what they were doing to make sure residents in rural areas weren't being left behind, the cabinet member responsible for buses, Councillor Philip Robinson said they are "angry that once again residents are being left isolated because of Stagecoach’s cuts.
"In recent months we have taken all steps available to us to implore Stagecoach to stop prioritising their commercial routes at the expense of rural communities, this included reporting them to the Traffic Commissioner.
“Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot fund replacement services without withdrawing resources from other areas of the county.
"The cost of an additional bus service starts at about £250k per annum. We are also managing the impact of inflation so we have already had to find significant additional money just to maintain current service levels.
“We strongly oppose any reduction of the network but do not have the authority to prevent Stagecoach making these changes.
"We will continue the work to try and stop them cutting off rural communities.”
Stagecoach West haven't replied to our request for a comment, but say on their website that these changes are due to low passenger demand and they'll help improve their existing services.