PORLOCK Parish Councillors have taken a trip on the No.10A bus from Porlock to Minehead to experience the journey as a group and to talk to the other passengers about the future of the service.

On Wednesday, November 16, members of Porlock Parish Council caught the 9.38 No. 10 service, which has been combined with the Minehead Town Service so that Porlock residents can still get to Minehead Community Hospital and the supermarkets.

Bus operator First Group has pledged to continue this service until the end of this year. Following joint council discussions, Porlock Parish Council and Minehead Town Council have agreed that they will fund the service equally until the end of the financial year, 31 March 2017, sharing the cost of £3,000.

This then gives a window of opportunity for all involved to find a permanent solution to making the service profitable.

Chairman of Porlock Parish Council Malcolm McCoy said: "To fully fund a viable service would cost around £13,000 per year. Somerset County Council say they have no money to support it, although they recognise that this goes against their policy to combat rural isolation and loneliness, and foster well-being."

Cllr McCoy said that Porlock Parish Council is considering increasing their parish rates precept to cover a £6,000 share of the cost, which would roughly mean an additional £8 on a Band D property – the equivalent of two bus journeys to Minehead. If the remaining £7,000 cannot be found, the bus service will cease.

"Many of the regular bus-users are elderly people without cars, who use their concessionary bus passes. First Group say that the proportion they receive from a concessionary fare is not sufficient to run a profitable service," Cllr McCoy said.

"Many bus pass holders have said they would be willing to pay part of the fare in order to keep the service running, but at present there is no legal way that this can be implemented because it goes against the Government’s policy for free off-peak travel for over-60s, introduced in 2006."

Porlock Parish Council is trying to encourage its parishioners to take more journeys with their bus passes, such as spending a morning going to Minehead for shopping and a coffee, as the current timetable gives adequate time for this, or ride to Porlock Weir and back.

"If the bus is not used, we will lose it. It has been estimated that another 20 journeys a day on the routes would possibly make the service viable," Cllr McCoy said.