Use it or lose it’ — Holsworthy bus shuttle service to begin

The service, operated by Holsworthy Rural Community Transport, will start on Monday, March 13, providing a town shuttle offering an hourly service throughout the day from 8.45am through until 4.43pm, Monday to Friday.

The route will be a figure of eight centred on the library and church bus stops. There will be around 25 stops — including the medical centre — to the circuit and the fare will be £1/single journey, children 50p with under 5s free.

In broad terms the service will cover from Staddon Road to the Cattle Market and out to Rydon.

Martin Prentice, chairman of Holsworthy Rural Community Transport (HRCT) made a successful bid to the Department of Transport’s Community Bus Fund last year and managed to get two buses costing £50,000 each, one to replace the ageing ‘Ring & Ride’ bus and the other to set up this Holsworthy Town Shuttle.The cost of the service will be about £30,000/annum and so the bus will run for a trial period to establish what sort of usage it gets but if it cannot break even it will have to be terminated. So the message is — ‘use it or lose it’.

Timetables can be collected from the HRCT office in the Square or from the library and there will be a leaflet drop, including a timetable, to every house in Holsworthy the week before the service begins.

Mr Prentice said: “This venture is reversing the trend in the transport area where usually services are being withdrawn and so it is refreshing to have something new which will benefit everyone in the area.

“The town needs to get behind this worthwhile service and by using it make sure that it remains for years to come.”