RESIDENTS are being asked to have their say on the future of Forest buses, amid fears that services could be cut.

Stagecoach is holding Q&A sessions in Lydney, Cinderford and Coleford to discuss a proposed new bus network for the Forest of Dean, following reports of falling passenger numbers on the district’s 23 routes.

Gloucestershire County Councillor Alan Preest (Aylburton and Lydney, Con) told Lydney Town Council earlier this month the Forest’s commercial bus network was “not fit for purpose” and was losing £100,000 on the current timetable.

Lydney-based firm James Bevan Coaches has also confirmed that it lost its county council tender bid to Stagecoach to continue offering 12 routes, including the Chepstow to Lydney service and the cross country service to Cinderford through Blakeney and Soudley, and will be withdrawing from the local bus service business next month, with the potential loss of four jobs.

It will concentrate on its coach business, including school transport, a spokesman said.

Announcing the consultation, a Stagecoach spokesman said this week: “Many routes have not altered much in recent years, but customer habits have and the bus company wants feedback so as to adapt services to better suit its passengers.

“Our Forest of Dean routes are run almost entirely on a commercial basis without subsidy and we need to ensure they remain sustainable to help us invest.

“We are calling for feedback on our first ideas for a new network that we’d like to introduce later this year.

“We’re starting with an outline of where buses should go and how frequently they may run. The new routes have already been influenced by previous customer comments about our network and connectivity across the Forest.

“We now need detailed suggestions about these proposals, letting us know how our ideas may affect the journeys that you can, or cannot, currently make by bus.”

Details are available in a dedicated consultation leaflet avaialble on buses and at Gloucester Travelshop as well as on the Stagecoach Bus website at http://stge.co/bieU30nJXfH

Bus users can come and talk to the Stagecoach team at Lydney Bus Station, on Monday, March 4, from 10am to 2pm, Cinderford Triangle on Tuesday, March 5, from 10am to 2pm

and Coleford Square on Thursday, March 7, from 10am to 2pm

Once consultation closes on March 31, Stagecoach said it will then finalise plans and prepare detailed timetables to start in the summer.

Decisions will be shared during early July to give customers time to understand the new routes and timetables ahead of their introduction.