Shropshire Star comment: Transport must be protected
We live in an age of a diminishing State.
Government expenditure continues to fall as the Conservatives seek to drive down spending, clear the national deficit and make the country increasingly competitive in the post-Brexit age.
Against such a backdrop, communities are having to step up to the plate to provide valuable working hours and services that were once funded by the national Government or local authority.
As more people are required to fill the gap left by the now-empty coffers, it is essential that all efforts are made to make it easy for people to assist.
Communities must be incentivised and must not feel there are barriers preventing them from playing a part. It is utterly ridiculous, therefore, to force volunteer drivers to take a commercial licence. The impact on our rural community here in Shropshire and Mid Wales will be catastrophic.
Those who rely on such services may no longer have access to them and alienation, isolation and loneliness will be the price that we pay. Community transport, a lifeline to thousands, could disappear. Clearly this is just wrong.
There is time to ensure that this does not happen and we must rely on our local council representatives to lobby the Government hard on this issue.
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Men, women and children across the region must take the fight to their local councillors and MPs to impress upon them the value of local transport.
For while the region has a good panel of elected representatives, it is important that they are encouraged to prioritise community transport lest it be lost for good.
The consequences of living in a sparsely populated area that lacks an integrated transport network will be unthinkable to many. The elderly who do not have access to their own transport and the sick who are unable to make it to medical appointments are the groups who will lose out most.
And yet it is clear that such groups are the ones who should receive the greatest protection and who should be able to rely on a helping hand.
We have seen how people power can make a change. This very newspaper has lobbied hard on a range of issues and been successful in leading campaigns that have helped the many.
It is time to step into the breach once more to make sure that people in need are not unfairly disadvantaged and that community transport can be relied upon for years to come.
