Perthshire residents fear they will be cut off from their GP surgery if Stagecoach axes bus services across the region.
The bus company plans to reduce and remove a number of routes within Perth and Kinross, including all daytime services in the Carse of Gowrie.
The proposals would see the axing of the 16 bus which takes patients to Carse Medical Practice near Errol.
Elaine Whyley, 56, lives in Glendoick and suffers from arthritis meaning she needs to travel almost five miles to the surgery every three months for checks.
“I’m just outside the cut-off for a GP in Perth and at the moment I have to walk down the side of A90 to Glencarse to get the 16 and then wait for the next bus to bring me back to Glencarse to then walk to my house,” she told The Courier.
“I’m 56 at the moment and fairly fit, but in a few years that may completely change because I suffer from arthritis and I have to have my bloods done every three months because of the medication.
“So my health may change dramatically at any time.”
Carse GP surgery has bus stop at door
Elaine called getting a taxi in the area “virtually impossible” and walking is a nine-mile round trip.
Carse Medical Practice, which sits around a mile outside Errol, only opened in 2020 and has a bus stop at its door.
Elaine thinks if the plans go ahead she would have to consider moving, which other residents are also considering.
“We’re a good commuter belt for anybody who works in Perth or Dundee,” she said.
“To not have any kind of public transport is just unacceptable, totally unacceptable.
“We all hope we’ll have our forever home and this has always been an ideal place.
“But if it was that (they removed) access to a medical facility, a GP surgery, even my nearest chemist is in Errol, we would have to consider selling up and moving to another place.”
Community council want plans reversed
On Friday evening it was announced that Stagecoach had delayed their plans to introduce the new timetables by a month, now set to come into effect on May 27.
However the X7 which serves the Carse and connects Ninewells and Perth Royal Infirmary is still set to be shelved at the end of April.
Errol Community Council wrote directly to the CEO of Stagecoach, Claire Miles, asking for the decision to be reversed.
Gordon Miller, the community council secretary, said: “The Stagecoach Group proposal does not explain the rationale behind the commercial decision to cut daytime bus services nor provide statistical evidence to support such a decision.
“Residents feelings within the Errol community are running high and people within the village and surrounding areas are angry and determined that this decision should be reconsidered.
“The effect of these proposed service changes affect different sectors of the community and will inevitably have a greater impact on the most vulnerable in the community.”
Stagecoach says the changes are a result of “significantly reduced passenger numbers”.
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