COUNCIL MEETING, 27 NOVEMBER 2003

BROUGHTON AND MOTTISFONT VILLAGE BUS ASSOCIATION

1. The Broughton and Mottisfont Village Bus Association was founded in 1980 and is the longest serving of three organisations providing community bus services in Hampshire. The bus services are operated under the Transport Act of 1985 and are organised and driven solely by a body of volunteers.

2. The Association provides bus services to the residents of Broughton and Mottisfont as well as a number of the surrounding parishes and serves those members of the community who may not have access to a car or who have no or limited transport options, to ensure they are able to get to and make use of key local facilities. In the last 12 months, 1,385 passengers have used the services to the local destinations of Romsey, Salisbury, Southampton and Winchester which represents 2,770 passenger trips per annum. The mini-bus is also available for private hire by local groups and individuals when not in use for the above services.

3. In order to continue the provision of these invaluable community services, the County Council has approved a grant of £33,500 from the Rural Bus Service Fund towards the purchase of a new mini-bus for the Association. In addition, approval has been given for the purchase of the existing mini-bus by the County Council with monies from the Community Transport Development Plan for redeployment at another community transport scheme in the county.

4. The approval of this grant to the Mottisfont and Broughton Village Bus Association represents a very cost-effective way of meeting local transport needs through a community based transport initiative.

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