A petition to save a countryside bus route from budget cuts has been started by a woman who describes the route as her “happy place”.
Lin MacCallum Stewart set up the petition to save the subsidy for the 79 bus to Ditchling Beacon after hearing how Brighton and Hove City Council proposes withdrawing the subsidy in its budget plans for 2024-25.
After four days more than 100 people signed the petition titled Urge Brighton and Hove Council to Maintain Subsidies for the 79 Bus on the Change.org website.
The 79 receives a £29,000 subsidy which supports the Brighton and Hove Buses service that runs at weekends and bank holidays all year.
Without it, the bus service is likely to stop running.
The 76-year-old retired business analyst said: “My happy place is the top of the Downs and the 79 bus is the only way I can easily get there without spending a fortune on a taxi.
“I don’t have a car nor someone who can drive me there. During the week I sometimes use the 77 bus to go to the Devil’s Dyke but not quite so frequently because this is a less convenient route for me.
“I have MS and so on a good day I can walk several miles but during my bad times I can’t walk far at all.
“Whether I use the 79 to go to the Downs just for the views and fresh air, or for a great place to start a walk it lifts my heart once I get off the bus.”
The 77 Devil’s Dyke route’s subsidy is also under threat.
However, the £29,000 earmarked to be cut pays for extra weekend buses, not the whole service, meaning its loss would reduce the service from two buses an hour to just one.
The subsidy for the summertime weekday service, which runs for a few months from Easter, is not affected. Buses do not run at all on the route from September to Easter.
Ms MacCallum Stewart said: “The 79 and 77 bus routes aren’t just a line on a map. There is stunning scenery in all directions once they leave Brighton.
“Pensioners can travel free with their bus passes and just enjoy the views and fresh air when they get to the top of the Downs.
“You can see the sea across the hills on the way to the Devil’s Dyke – a stunning view. Families with children can have cheap and healthy days out by taking a picnic and perhaps flying kites or just letting the children have a good run around.
“Walkers can start high and get from Ditchling Beacon to the Devil’s Dyke along the South Downs Way or they can head off towards Lewes.
“I have spent glorious days walking with friends from Ditchling Beacon to Black Cap for a flask of coffee then on to Lewes to catch the bus back to Brighton.”
Bus subsidies are just one of the cuts totalling £30 million proposed when the budget is debated next week.
The annual “budget council” meeting at Hove Town Hall is due to start at 4.30pm on Thursday 22 February.
Both meetings are scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
I don’t see this petition really going anywhere, unfortunately. A leisure bus route subsidiary when you put it in the context of cuts all over the place, isn’t likely to be high on importance, unfortunately.
Sorry , but we at BHCC need to subsidise VG3 to the tune of £6m . Nothing else matters
Any £6m budget could be compressed by 0.5% – which would pay for the bus service. Great idea!
I believe these bus routes are far more significant than just labelling them as leisure buses!
They allow people who do not have cars or choose not to have cars because they believe private cars are detrimental to our health and that of our planet, to escape the city and walk deep into nature. Walking in nature does not just mean physical exercise as simply being in nature has been linked to a number of positive mental health outcomes such as: Improved focus, Lower stress, Better mood, Reduced risk of developing a mental health condition, Lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels. In 2023, mental health challenges continued to be a significant concern in the United Kingdom, particularly in the under 35 and in children. A local council should do anything in its power to improve the terrifying data of mental health problems, especially in the young and working poor. Allowing easy access to the natural environment is a no-brainer solution advocated by many mental health care professionals.
“The report ‘A review of nature-based interventions for mental health care’ suggests making greater use of ‘green care’ to help people suffering from mental ill-health. The new review was commissioned by Natural England from the University of Essex and Mind, the UK’s leading mental health charity.
Mental ill-health is on the rise and in England it is estimated that in any one year at least 1 in 4 people will experience a ‘significant’ mental health problem. The new report suggests that green care interventions can provide an increasingly important and cost-effective way of supporting mental health services.”
As already noted but I repeat: Keeping these bus routes going is a no-brainer in terms of the positive outcomes they provide for the people of Brighton & Hove and beyond, for their wellbeing and mental health and in reducing work-limiting mental health conditions they help to reduce sick days reducing cost and pressure on work places as well as the NHS.
Personally as a retired biological surveyor on low income and without a car, I would miss these services intensely. They are my lifeline to nature and my joy. Please do not cut these services!
You are so right Claire. Our mental health is vitally important and we should not be denied access to nature, the cheapest of interventions, just because we don’t have a car.
On the other hand – you have none of the expenses of running a car. There are also car clubs in Brighton as well as taxis. A shared taxi would not be too expensive.
Perhaps the bus company could run these at a loss offset against profits made elsewhere ?
Or maybe the council could look at using smaller (cheaper) buses and less frequently. Or maybe Yellow bus could do something ? – as they have smaller buses as well as larger.
There are many other options to be explored apart from throwing Council Taxpayers cash at this.
But what has this got to do with the 77 and 79 bus routes – other areas of countryside, green spaces, and parks are well served by frequent bus services that don’t require additional funding from Brighton and Hove City Council.
I really hope this service is preserved. I know that balancing the budget is difficult but this is a small amount of money relative to the benefits available for all.
Very well said Jane
As a Conservative Group we are appalled that Labour are proposing to cut the subsidy. The savings are very modes & the benefits outweigh the costs many times over. We will be presenting a recommendation at the Budget meeting to make savings elsewhere to protect this service.
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Maybe you could have a word upstairs instead, regarding the tawdry state of central government funding for local councils.
Well said. Local tories always criticising cuts but it’s a Tory government who is the cause
Hmm, an interesting comment.
BHCC enjoyed applying for, and gaining millions in funding for vanity projects and continue to receive funding for projects.
Personally, I thought the Government were wrong in doing these funding schemes when councils all over the country are struggling and this money, should have been used to improve councils budgets.
If I recall, BHCC received funding for ‘Active Travel’ where plenty was spent on cycling facilities. Also, funding from profits from parking should also be spent on Transport modes yet I’ve seen no improvement in our bus services.
So before we start looking at the government, we should be asking lots of questions of BHCC as to where all this money been spent.
Other areas of countryside, green spaces, and parks are well served by bus services that don’t require additional funding from Brighton and Hove City Council.
If there were sufficient customers for the 79 services to run every 30 minutes, 7 days per week, I’m sure bus companies would run them without needing additional subsidies.
At least the 77 will continue, albeit with reduced service.
Why is the Council pushing ahead with VG3?
This is going to cost the local taxpayer £7million +
At your meeting, please ask the idiots in the Transport dept and Cllr Muten why they think this is a good idea.
If the 79 looses its funding, why not extend the 24’s once an hour to ditchling beacon between 8am – 8pm as the 24’s already run close to the area anyways, the 77 can be run by an hourly 27 between devils dyke and Saltdean, and the 78 can be taken over by the 25’s entering the park every 30mins – 1hr as they drive past the park anyways. With some timetable changes etc this can easily be done while saving the council £29,000+ a year
Equally the 28s & 29s should not terminate at Churchill Square. They should run fast to palmera sq, George Street then down to king Alfred. It’s mad that you can get into Brighton from Lewes road in 10 mins and then take 35 mins from the old stein to George Street
Extending the 24 or the 27 will require additional vehicles and staff to operate, increasing costs of course.
Why they have continued funding the 78 is a mystery. There’s plenty of service’s that stop outside the Stanmer Park, 5B, 23, 25 and 28/9 stop within walking distance.
79 has no alternative services so in my opinion, I would scrap the 78 and as you say put another route around the park.
When they took off the open topped bus on this route about 7 or 8 years ago it was the beginning of the end. It used to be a joy to go up there on an affordable fare on a lovely summer’s day. ‘Breeze up the Downs’ was exactly what it was. A lot of locals miss it.
Cash is required for councillors wages
Their needs to be money in the cash tin to run these services. The council or any council increasingly can’t afford to subsidies bus passes for the older community and bus services.
They have a legal obligation to fund bus pass schemes.
I’m carbon literate and learnt about the toxicity of exhaust fumes to human life many years ago, so choose not to drive. If we were more Paris, and less “Labour frightened of losing old school votes” and trebled the parking charges for SUVs we’d pay for the bus service and much much more. Don’t want to upset the boomers though do we now Bella?
they could save it by donating it amberley bus museam