Kite flying by MP?
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THE SIGHT of a bus in Mid Wales was becoming almost a rare as the red kite, declared Tory MP in the House of Corn mons last week.
Many small_ bus operators o market town routes were bein squeezed out of business b local authorities giving schoo transport contracts to Stat operators, added the MP, Del wyn Williams (Montgomery).
In reply, Junior Transpor Minister Kenneth Clarke said that the bus had been in decline in rural areas for many years — that was why the Government had legislated last year to make it easier for new operators to enter the business.
He hoped that local authorities in Wales would collaborate with his Department in looking for ways to bring services to isolated areas.
Mr Clarke welcomed the range of transport initiatives now being taken to counter the decline of the past 20 years.
But John Cunningham (Labour, Whitehaven) claimed that the provisions of the Act, which allowed private operators to seek to cream off traffic in urban areas, would be to the detriment of the already inadequate services in rural areas.
Mr Clark replied hewas unaware of any evidence that this had happened and instanced three new services — between Grimsby and Saltfleet — five busmen (Manxtree) in Bexhill who had opened up a new service, and two one-man operators in Leicestershire.
Many councils were working with the Department in planning new services, he continued, and they were now in a better position to make a sensible use of revenue support.