IN Monmouthshire, surrounded by a beautiful natural environment and as one of the first areas of the UK to declare a climate change emergency, I think we’re more aware than most of the need to do more to protect our planet.

In recent years the council has had great success at increasing recycling rates, reducing its carbon footprint and generating its own electricity by installing solar panels on the roofs of schools and council offices.

One area where progress is more challenging is in transport where, for many residents, public transport options are limited.

Rail services are patchy and we still need to see progress in improving rail services to and from Abergavenny, Chepstow and Severn Tunnel Junction as well as a new station at Magor. But bus services have always felt a bit like the poor relation.

We don’t have many bus routes in Monmouthshire, but the ones we do have are invaluable – a lifeline for many residents, particularly in connecting rural areas to our towns.

The Welsh Government prides itself on prioritising steps to address climate change, but part of this commitment should be about investing in public transport and not just forcing motorists out of their cars. We need to make public transport a more attractive alternative.

During the pandemic emergency funding was introduced to protect bus routes while Welsh Government advice was to avoid public transport.

Since the pandemic ended, usage on public transport has not recovered to pre-2019 levels, but Welsh Government is now proposing to withdraw the additional funding from mid-July 2023.

They seem to understand that such a move would decimate local bus services, admitting it would reduce buses to a ‘skeletal’ service in Wales.

This is madness at a time when we should be encouraging people to use public transport instead of private vehicles. It’s better for people’s mental and physical health and better for the environment and obviously increased passenger numbers would help make the services more sustainable.

Councils are already working together to deliver the South Wales Metro but bus services need to be a key component of this and integrated into a joined up system.

This week the Conservative Group has put forward a motion that we hope will attract cross party support.

It calls on all councillors to work together to intensively lobby Welsh Government to ditch these damaging plans and invest in a better and more integrated public transport network.