Thousands of elderly and vulnerable residents who rely on Bustler buses face an uncertain future as Woking Borough Council withdraws its funding.

As the effectively bankrupt council imposes service cuts in an attempt to balance its budget for 2024-25, the familiar bright yellow vehicles run by Woking Community Transport (WCT) to provide door-to-door transport to and from community centres and the Dial-A-Ride mobility service are under serious threat. 

“The funding is worth £175,000, which may sound like a lot, but for that we provide 12 vehicles a day, 52 weeks a year,” said Guy Padfield-Wilkins, managing director and chief executive of WCT.

“All that will come to a halt on March 31. We will still continue with Surrey County Council and the NHS, but that is very specific work, not all of it directly open to the public.

“It’s devastating. We have just under 4,000 members, all of whom are either disabled or have reduced mobility. People have said they wouldn’t get out of the house if it wasn’t for us.”

The service has been running for more than 30 years with its biggest user base people in their late 70s and beyond.

“Even for those who can afford taxis, it’s not going to be viable,” Guy added. “We help people get out of their chairs, perhaps help them get dressed to go out in the winter, help them to get into the vehicles. That’s not a typical taxi service, each customer journey could take up to 20 minutes. What are people who use us going to do?”

The News & Mail understands that a meeting on Tuesday (January 30) between WCT and the council proved constructive on how the most vulnerable residents can be supported and that agreement can be reached on future service provision.

However, the impression remains that this has not been the easiest of discussions on either side.

“All the council has said to me is to downscale the operation,” Guy said. “But without the funding the cost of each journey would go up five-fold. 

“Instead of looking at £4.60 for a single trip as we do now we’d be edging up to around £50 for a round trip, That’s not going to work.”

The council sees it rather differently.

“It is very disappointing that Bustler continues to focus on campaigning rather than collaborating with us to find a way ahead,” said council leader Ann-Marie Barker. 

“Guy spoke last week about continuing to fight. We need him to work with us to find a fix. We have discussed offering office accommodation and receiving a reduced service, at a higher but still affordable cost.”

A point which clearly rankles with Guy is that The Lightbox gallery was on the council’s recent list of priorities to receive funding (£130,000) from the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, but not the Bustler service. “But these funds can’t be spent on day-to-day running costs,” said Cllr Barker. 

“They can be spent on the transformation of a business. 

“The Lightbox provided a well thought-out business plan, showing how it would move from an art gallery to a community-focused facility. To date we have not had a business plan from Bustler.

“We want to retain a Bustler service. We want to find a way to do that, but Woking Community Transport needs to find a way to change their business and we can then try to support that.

“Woking Community Transport provide services to Surrey County Council and the health service for which they are paid, and they also have substantial reserves. 

“Because of this they can pay for parking and garage space and they are looking to lease some land for parking from the council.”