Surrey County Council is proposing to axe the 503, Hambledon’s only bus service.

Having won a reprieve in 2012, once again the county council is making further spending cuts including the subsidy that keeps the 503 operating.

This time the village faces a big battle to keep its bus, even though the need for the service remains as great as ever.

If you want to comment on the proposal then please complete the Surrey Council questionnaire online at www.surreycc.gov.uk/transportreview or fill in a paper version available in libraries and local council offices.  Or you can request a copy in the post by calling 0300 200 1003. The deadline is Monday March 14.

SCC will then consider responses to the consultation and final proposals will be debated on May 24. The outcome will be announced in June and changes will come into effect in September.

If you care about the future of Hambledon’s bus, which provides the only public service link to shops/banks/surgeries in Milford, Godalming and Guildford then please take part in the consultation. SCC is suggesting the bus could be replaced by a dial-a-ride service.

Many older residents in the village rely on the 503, which currently operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, twice in each direction.

A handful of residents join the bus in Hambledon and others board as it stops the in Manor Fields and Chapel Lane estates in Milford.

Because of its importance to these passengers, the Stagecoach-operated service is subsidised by Surrey County Council to keep it running. But continuing cuts in funding to local authorities by Central Government are taking their toll.

And this at a time when the need for public transport, and the energy and environmental savings it brings, could not be more important.

Additionally, an affordable housing development at Orchard Farm is currently under consideration. The 503 starts on its doorstep at Lane End. The bus also travels close to the new 100-homes development off Tuesley Lane.

Recent History of the 503

Hambledon used to be served by a regular daily bus service. By 2011 the 503 had been reduced to a twice-weekly service and a SCC bus review proposed ending it altogether. A spirited defence of the 503 by Hambledon Parish Council and villagers resulted not only in its reprieve but in the increase of its frequency to three times a week.

The Parish Council also launched a successful initiative to have bus stop signs returned to the route and these were installed at the village hall, the Merry Harriers and Hydestile crossroads in July 2013.

But in March last year, faced with further budget cuts, SCC announced another two-stage Local Transport Review.  The 503 was not considered in the first stage which resulted in service cuts in other parts of the county.  But stage two is now being considered and within this the 503 is to be scrapped, subject to the outcome of the public consultations. Other bus routes in the area are to be reduced or withdrawn.

Full details can be found by clicking on https://www.surreysays.co.uk/e-i-directorate-programme-group/ltr and following the links.