A bus service which serves towns and villages which straddle the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire border offers a glimmer of hope and path to follow for communities which have lost their public transport links.

The 232 Daffodil Line which connects Newent with Ledbury and Ross was created in April last year and has gone from strength to strength.

The route is named after the former Ledbury to Gloucester train line which cut across the area arguably known for Britain’s best wild daffodil display.

It emerged after Stagecoach’s decision to axe the regular 132 service from Gloucester to Ledbury and the stretch of the 32 route from Newent to Ross.

Campaigners banded together and created Buses4Us to try and reverse the downward spiral of public transport in the area.

Clare Stone, who leads the group, got to work on the new service after she raised questions about the bus service at a council meeting in 2022.

She was instrumental in championing and getting the project started.

A trial mini bus was launched and its success ultimately led to the establishment of the 232 bus route.

“Ownership of a private car should be a choice not a necessity,” she said.

“In the same use of private healthcare and education is a choice.

“Sadly in most rural areas if you don’t run a private car because you can’t afford to or choose not to, you are shut off from a huge number of social, economic and educational. And that needs to change.”

The axing of the 132 and the reduction of the 32 was the first challenge bus transport cabinet member Philip Robinson (C, Mitcheldean) faced in the role.

He is extremely pleased that Gloucestershire County Council could help save a bus link for the towns and villages along the route.

Stagecoach said at the time when they axed the regular 32 bus service and the 132 that they were losing £200,000 a year on that route.

Cllr Robinson agreed to a meeting with Ms Stone and this eventually led to funding of £35,000 a year from the authority to help the route.

This sum was matched by Herefordshire Council and town and parish councils along the route also contributed to the 232.

The route is going from strength to strength. It is often standing room only at school pick up and drop of times and Ms Stone has the ambition of it becoming an hourly service.

It is now a community interest company which is formed by committed members from as far afield as Ludlow and Colwall.

The Daffodil line is a clear example of how often forgotten communities which straddle local authority borders can work together and reverse cuts to public transport in rural areas.

However, councils must be willing to help each other. Otherwise border towns and villages lose vital bus links through no fault of their own as is the case with the recent axing of the 84/85 service in Wotton-under-Edge.

An offer to provide more funding by GCC has fallen on deaf ears across the border at the West of England Combined Authority.

Since 2021, Gloucestershire has also seen other major changes to public transport such as the creation of the Robin service.

This is a demand responsive fully accessible minibus service is not a solution to the loss of rural bus routes but it does help.

People can book it any time from up to 14 days to ten minutes before.

And it provides a link to the nearest train station or bus stop for passengers to continue their journey. It was first launched as a pilot in the south Forest of Dean and North Cotswolds.

It has since expanded to cover the rest of the Cotswolds, Tewkesbury Borough and parts of Stroud district.

Cllr Robinson says he wants to plug the “missing link” in the north of the Forest of Dean to provide a “ring of Robins” around Cheltenham and Gloucester.

He is also extremely proud of the County Council’s efforts in securing funding for 58 new emission-free buses for Gloucestershire.

Shire Hall received some £6m of government funding earlier this year for the scheme. The move will make 20 per cent of Gloucestershire’s entire bus fleet electric.

Looking ahead to the autumn budget, the continuation of the bus fare cap is something Cllr Robinson would like the Labour government to continue with.

The previous Conservative government introduced a £2 bus fare cap on a single bus ticket on most services in England outside London in January 2023.

This was then extended by former Transport secretary and Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper. But as it currently stands it is due to come to an end on December 31 this year unless Labour renew the scheme.