The Villager – a rural lifeline

The Villager has been providing bus services to villages in rural West Oxfordshire and bordering Gloucestershire since 1982. Richard Sharman visited the Section 22 operator to find out how it provides a network of services in a deeply rural setting

The Villager was formed in 1982, as a direct result of a government report that revealed that rural areas were suffering from severe depopulation.

Chair, Keith Gowing, recalls: “Our founder, Trevor Baxter, wanted to find a way to help transport people from the remote rural villages to nearby towns. In 1982, with the support of Gloucestershire County Council he purchased a second-hand Dormobile minibus, with wooden slatted bench seating that carried six people. The first service operated from his home village of Oddington, to the town of Stow-on-the-Wold. [wlm_nonmember][…]

[/wlm_nonmember] [wlm_ismember] “The service was a success, so he purchased another larger bus and operated with two vehicles for a few years.

“The reign of the Ford Transit commenced shortly afterwards. The Villager would then go on to operate Ford Transit based vehicles for the next 20 years. I joined The Villager in 2000; by this time the routes were growing and we had 10 in total, with vital subsidies from county councils.”

County Council cuts
In November 2015, Oxfordshire County Council announced that it was to withdraw bus subsidies to all 118 supported bus routes in Oxfordshire. Subsidies subsequently ended on 20 July 2016.

“We were asked by Oxfordshire County Council if there was any way we could step in to fill the gaps left by the service cuts forced on commercial operators,” said Keith. “We were not able to take on any routes in their entirety, but we did find a way to modify our existing routes to help serve the rural population. Any new route we take on in full would require another minibus and two additional volunteer drivers. Prior to the cuts, we had four minibuses. We now operate six, with another on the way.

“The V21 service on Wednesday to Witney is the busiest and has to be duplicated. For the people we carry, it is often the only transport they have, and in most cases that is one service per week.”

Chippy shuttle

One service that has been growing in popularity is the V3 Chippy Shuttle. A service in the West Oxfordshire town of Chipping Norton, it serves all the housing estates, shops, health centre and a hospital. The town has recently seen major expansion, with a new Aldi supermarket being built and a retail park, which has been built on the towns’ former South Midlands bus depot site.

“We have been carrying around 250 passengers per week on this service, but that is going up all the time,” said Keith. “We started the route when the new out-of-town health centre and doctors surgery opened; it was just too far for elderly people to walk as it is all uphill.

“The route also goes in to the Midcounties Co-Op car park, which is really only suitable for the shorter Ford Transit vehicles in the fleet. Due to the difficulty older passengers have in climbing the Ford Transit steps, we decided to upgrade the vehicle to a 2010 Bluebird Tucana. It will not increase the capacity, but it will be a low-floor vehicle.

“The service operates hourly, but there is a 20-minute built-in recovery time after each trip which allows us to help elderly passengers aboard the vehicle with their shopping. The flat rate fare on this route is £1 per trip for non-concessionary pass holders. Pass holders make up 70% of the passengers on this route.

“We outstation a vehicle in Chipping Norton, that saves six miles each way in dead mileage. We have around 12 regular drivers on this service, plus back-ups, many of whom also live in the town. The service operates from 0900hrs until 1700hrs, so there are two shifts.”

Rural routes
The Villager services are based in Gloucestershire and cover villages in the east of the county as well as much of neighbouring mainly West Oxfordshire. “Gloucestershire County Council has often asked us if we can operate to places such as Northleach, but this is some distance from our normal operating area and would not fit with existing routes that we operate,” Keith explained. “We used to operate a service to Winchcombe. It only ever carried one passenger. When I spoke to the passenger, she said she only ever used the bus to keep it running.

“If we get a day where there has been heavy snow, we do not normally operate. We find we can get in and out of the depot fine but once we start to operate the rural routes, they can become impassable as they are off the main roads and not gritted. Equally, our passengers do not want to go outside and risk slipping over. So far there is only one day this year that this has occurred, the previous year was two days.

“We have a contact list for each village we serve, so if there is any issue we ring one person in each village who is then able to communicate that to the rest of the village residents. Our services are very much a community activity.”

Low-floor fleet

The mainstay of the fleet has always been the humble Ford Transit, but there are now only two examples left. One of these is shortly to be withdrawn and replaced with a second-hand Volkswagen T6-bodied Bluebird Tucana.

The rest of the fleet are Fiat Ducato-bodied Bluebird or Mellor Orions. “The Orions have proved ideal for our needs, as we have the issue that the vast majority of our routes are using small single-track country lanes for much of time. They have been a big improvement for our elderly passengers, as there are no steps to deal with.

“Our first low-floor bus was an Optare Alero, but we couldn’t get on with some of the design features on that vehicle. The first Orion was purchased in 2012, and we have managed to update the fleet every couple of years since. We have found the backup from Mellor to be very good. If there are any issues they come straight out. We have another Mellor Orion on order for April delivery,” enthused Keith.

I asked Keith how The Villager funded the new vehicles. He replied: “We have the money that we get in bus fares, the average return fare being £5, but 95% of our passengers are concessionary pass holders. We used to get a big grant from Oxfordshire County Council, but that stopped in 2016. Gloucestershire County Council continues to provide us with a fair subsidy. We now approach parish and town councils, as there is a provision in the local government act to provide subsidy to community buses. “All of the major villages and towns we serve now give us a grant each year. A small village would give us a couple of hundred pounds, where-as a large town can provide a couple of thousand pounds.

“Another source of funding for new vehicles is national and local charities that are often able to help with funding new vehicles. We have also gone into sponsorship, and this has proved very popular. Our biggest sponsor is the Midcounties Co-Op in Chipping Norton; we have frequent stops at that store, so they are very keen to support us. “Others include Chipping Norton’s largest employer, Owen Mumford, which produces medical supplies. Then there is Bronseen’s Accountants and McCarthy & Stone – which is building retirement homes in Chipping Norton. All our vehicles carry window stickers for our sponsors.”

Vehicles are maintained by the Forge Garage in nearby Churchill, which provides all servicing, MOTs and breakdown cover. There are no wash facilities at the parking area near Stow-on-the-Wold, so a contractor is used to wash the vehicles every few weeks.

The future of Section 22 operators

I asked Keith if he has any concerns going forward in regards to the government talking about Section 22 operators requiring an Operator Licence, drivers having a PCV Licence and having to undertake Driver CPC training. Keith said: “Our biggest concern going forward is the uncertainty of what is going to happen to Section 22 operators. The law has become nonsensical for our community needs; we are providing a lifeline to the community where councils have had to withdraw services due to cuts to funding by the government. Our Local MP, Robert Courts, is very much on our side and has organised the Parliamentary Transport Group. This is an all-party group that will lobby government to see common sense.

“If they wipe out all the Section 22 operators, which is what they will do if they bring the proposals in, who will provide a replacement service? We have 45 volunteer drivers at The Villager, it would not be practical for them to all go through PCV training and sit in a classroom to do CPC training, and many only drive three hours a week. The vast majority would simply walk away from the operation.

“Each of our routes has two drivers allocated to it. We have 17 routes in total, and the cost would be enormous. Who would pay for all the additional costs?

“We always stress to people that we are not in competition with any commercial bus operator. If a bus operator starts operating on one of our routes then we would come off the route. Our purpose is to serve the community when there are no other options.

All our drivers are volunteers, and as such are dedicated to running the services we operate. They have an empathy with our passengers, and they are not there to run in competition with commercial companies.

“Commercially, none of our routes would be viable. Our normal loadings are between eight and 10 passengers, although occasionally we do carry 16.”
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