DECISION makers have been urged to reconsider the scrapping of a vital bus link for communities in eastern Anglesey.

As part of proposals to save £95,000 in bus subsidies, Anglesey Council is proposing to stop the 43/47 service which connects estates in Menai Bridge and Llanfairpwll with Bangor on the mainland.

But according to community leaders, the service is a vital one for elderly and disabled residents who have no way of walking down to the main bus stops where most regular bus services operate from.

To highlight their plight, a petition was handed over to council bosses last year, signed by 229 local residents, opposing the proposed cut.

Cllr Alun Mummery (in video above), who presented the petition in December, is hopeful that a compromise can be found.

“Because of the savings needed, its inevitable that the current service will be done away with,” he said.

“But what we’re hoping for is that the 42 route, which services Newborough and Brynsiencyn, can service at least part of the route.

“We need a service to come into this side of Menai Bridge to avoid  people having to walk down the town centre.”

He added, “From meetings we’ve had, there needs to be consultation with the 42 service provider but we hope that any solution can at least satisfy the needs of the people of Menai Bridge.

“Most of the users are elderly and infirm so we need some kind of service that can help take them to the hospitals and surgeries and other vital services.”

A spokesman for Anglesey Council confirmed that no decision has yet been made, with discussions understood to be ongoing.

Mrs Gwyneth Chatterton, who set up the petition, added: “The community feels that yes, the service needs looking, at and at the worst reducing or fine turning but not a complete withdrawal.

“The service is being used by all walks of life including the disabled, sick, enabled, young, students and the elderly.

“Withdrawal of the service will have a massive impact the community.”

Among other proposed bus  cuts as part of the 2019/20 budget is the 7:13am Saturday morning 32 service from Amlwch to Llangefni, and 63a from Amlwch to Llannerch-y-medd to Bangor (via Brynteg) on Saturday afternoons.

The authority’s executive will discuss the budget on Monday, with a recent scrutiny committee meeting recommending a 10% rise to alleviate some of the proposed £1.7m cuts to the island’s education budget.

Following another 0.3% drop in the Welsh Government settlement, which makes up three quarters of the authority’s income, decision makers had identified substantial cuts to make up the estimated £7m shortfall.

The challenges facing the authority were described as “a perfect storm” due to other outside factors including a rise in the fire service levy, inflation, the national living wage and pension costs, with officers keen to stress that Anglesey currently has the second lowest council tax rate in North Wales.

Admitting that some services may have also been “under budgeted” in the past, more money will also to be made available for social services due to both children’s services (£2m) and adult services (£1m) expected to exceed their budgets by the end of the current financial year due to being demand-led services.