studying the leaflets detailing the proposed new bus services.

My opinion of this document is that if it is adopted, it will not be long before Stagecoach is planning more cuts to the already inadequate service proposed as passenger numbers continue to fall and road congestion increases.

What is proposed does nothing to address the problems of running a rural bus service.

The main problem, in my opinion, of doing so is the need to not only convey passengers to surrounding towns but also to provide a network that enables people to get about the Forest without a car.

Cutting the existing service only makes things worse – except, perhaps, for Stagecoach.

For example, at the moment I can get a bus from Ruardean, where I live, directly to Ross-on-Wye using service 35.

If the current proposal is adopted, I will have to change buses at both Cinderford and Mitcheldean, lengthening my journey considerably.

There are many areas on the map provided where there is no indication that any bus service will be provided.

Presumably those who live there will have no option to go anywhere unless they have a car – bad for the environment and increasing the congestion on already busy roads.

I suggest that the best solution would be that adopted by some other rural areas creating a network usually of minibus routes that enables local people to make the journeys they want to make rather than those dictated by a national company with little knowledge of local conditions and who send large buses on narrow lanes and then wonder why they get damaged, or, worse stuck on the only road to a village.

The Forest still has a number of local bus companies who are well aware of the local road conditions.

Together with the local Dial-a-Ride service they could form the nucleus of such a network, using much more appropriate vehicles than large buses.

I suggest that Stagecoach should be told that unless they can provide a service that meets the needs of local people, their contract will be ended and any money from it will be given to those who can provide the service people actually need.

– Jackie Orman, Ruardean.