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Starting a new debate on the shuttle bus

While a decision has been made not to fund a shuttle bus from the Borough levy on council tax, we should consider ways of restoring a similar service without increasing taxes.

The Borough is not a highways authority, but are there funds jointly held with the County Council that could be used ? Would town centre firms be prepared to make a contribution, either directly or via sponsorship? Is there existing public spending that could be re-allocated to support this service instead? Would users be prepared to make a small charge for their journey ? Could the £100,000 cost be lower if the contracts were procured differently?

As Claude Kaufmann, Julian Lyon, David Orchard and Bernard Parke have conveyed in their own ways in recent weeks (Surrey Advertiser, Letters, 24 and 31 October), the democratic expression of our Borough is more than just the sum of rulings made by the Executive.

This week, as a Conservative councillor, I have written to the Liberal Democrat Chairman of the Borough’s Community & Health Committee and called for the Committee to use its powers to hold a Select Committee-style inquiry into the finances of bringing back the shuttle bus. It is an opportunity to put aside party politics, and invite evidence and opinions from across Guildford. This is not to resurrect the debate that has been had, but to initiate a new one.

Every council has to take difficult decisions to balance the books. But this doesn’t give us an excuse to dodge the difficult questions that go with them, or close our minds to alternative solutions to difficult issues.

Cllr Sheridan Westlake

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