Date: 06/04/2010
Community buses bringing disabled shoppers to a famous spa town will soon have somewhere convenient to stop for the first time in more than two years.
Run by volunteers at subsidised cost, the buses bring disabled and elderly passengers to Buxton from as far afield as Glossop, Bakewell and Eyam.
The service ran into difficulties when the owners of the Spring Gardens Shopping Centre stopped buses dropping off behind the complex for health and safety reasons.
Bus drivers had to start using various alternative locations, many of which were unsuitable for passengers as they were some distance from the shops.
But Derbyshire County Council has now met a request from High Peak Borough Council to use county highways land behind Spring Gardens as a dedicated community transport bus stop.
And retail giant Waitrose has helped out by providing an adjacent indoors seated area where passengers can wait comfortably to be collected by the bus when they have finished shopping.
The deal was brokered by Linda Baldry, the Borough Council's Executive Councillor for Planning, and by County Councillor Jean Wharmby.
Speaking on Monday 29 March, Councillor Baldry said she was delighted county highways workers had started marking out the bus stop and that it would be available within days.
"It's clearly important that a transport service for elderly and disabled people can drop them off at a point where walking is kept to a minimum. Sadly, this has not been possible for the last two years or so.
"As a result, the number of people using the service had started to fall. Thanks to the two councils, we now have a convenient service once more, and I'm so pleased that the bus stop will be available within the next few days", she added.