MP's column - Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley looks ahead to 2025 with buses, doctors and floods on agenda
The tinsel and the baubles have been put away for another year, those leftover mince pies are looking decidedly stale, and many of us are coming back down to earth after the emotional rollercoaster we call Christmastime.
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Very few people would disagree that this can be a very strange time of year. It’s a time when we weigh up the good and the bad, the successes and the disappointments, and we do our best to look forward with optimism and with the desire to do good.
Perhaps Albert Einstein summed it up best when he said: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow”. It won’t surprise you to know that, for me, it’s been an incredibly eventful six months since I was elected MP for Shrewsbury and the villages in July.
It’s been a pleasure this year to listen to you, my constituents, and help with issues you may have had.
Last week in this column, I focused on some of the many issues I’ve been involved with since being elected.
This week, I want to look at just a few of the topics high on my agenda as we go into 2025.
Local bus services
You’ll be aware that I’ve already had long, searching and fruitful discussions with Arriva Buses and other organisations about improvements to our local transport. I’ve spoken to them about the need for better connectivity with the villages, bus services for later in the day, and a Sunday service. I’m optimistic that progress is being made on all these fronts.
Doctors and dentists
In Shrewsbury we suffer from a lack of GPs and dentists, and wehave some of the longest waiting times for care at our local hospital trust. We need to cut theNHS backlog so the gap between referral and treatment is greatly reduced.
Flood resilience
Flooding in Shrewsbury has been – for decades – a huge problem for many shops, businesses and households. As part of the Flood Resilience in England Inquiry, a Parliamentary Inquiry on the Environment Select Committee which I have secured to look specifically at Shrewsbury’s flooding, we need to look at a more joined-up approach to flood prevention.
I’ll also of course be directing my efforts into a wide range of other areas from supporting our farming community to championing local markets, to fighting for better train services, and much else besides.
Happy New Year.
And please do get in touch if you have any issues I can help with. My office in Shrewsbury is at 64 Wyle Cop. Telephone 01743 650434. Or email Julia.buckley.mp@parliament.uk. You can also follow me on X or Facebook – or sign up for my regular newsletter at www.shrewsburylabour.org.uk/juliabuckley/.
