| Local Councillors call for Local Dial-A-Ride |
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At the Executive meeting on Wednesday 7th December, the facts were firmly set out in front of the Executive Member for Transport and Highways, Sir Elgar Jenkins, to set the scene for the expansion of Midsomer Norton Dial a Ride service into Peasedown St John and beyond.
Cllr Sarah Bevan said: "I have distributed information posters and registration leaflets in shops, at the doctor's surgery and various other venues around Peasedown St John, so that residents can show their interest and ensure that they are included in this travel scheme. At my advice surgery last Saturday, about half of the residents who came to see me enquired about Dial a Ride. Given that the savings from the abolition of the voucher scheme are in the region of £148,000, and that the proposed expansion would cost in the region of £30,000 - 35,000 per year, which includes the driver's salary and the new bus, there is no reason why the money cannot be found to enable people with a disability and those with other reasons why ordinary forms of transport are inaccessible to them, to travel when and where they need to". At a meeting of the Midsomer Norton Dial a Ride committee, details were being thrashed out to determine priorities for travel on the bus, and to receive figures as to how much money the committee has raised itself. Cllr Gail Coleshill said: "This scheme aims to combat social isolation and as such, we feel that as many people as possible who need to should be included on the register of users; for example, mothers and toddlers who live several miles from bus stops and cannot afford a car, can feel very left out of communities; they too, as well as the elderly and infirm, should have the opportunity to get about and meet other people". It looks as though residents and councillors alike await the outcome of these efforts with eager anticipation.
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