January 6 2012


Community Transport for the Lewes Area, or CTLA, received a visit from local MP Norman Baker yesterday, Thursday 5th January. As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport and responsible for community transport, Mr Baker has always taken a great interest in the work of CTLA.

Earlier this year Mr Baker made available £10M pounds nationally to support community transport. East Sussex County Council received £171,000 to support sustainable schemes in the County. Following a bid process administered by the County Council, CTLA was one of a number of community transport operators in the county to be awarded a share of the grant.

CTLA will be using the grant money to extend existing dial-a-ride and community bus services in the areas of Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven and Telscombe Cliffs and is working on detailed proposals for the implementation of the enhanced services.

In addition CTLA will be upgrading the existing vehicle communication and tracking system to enable further improvements to the service.

Whilst at the CTLA office in Newhaven, Mr Baker received a demonstration of the tracking system and was shown one of the specially equipped mini buses from the CTLA fleet.

Norman Bennett, CTLA Finance and Funding Manager said: "We were very grateful for the time Mr Baker could give us out of his very busy schedule. He was particularly interested to hear from us how the money he made available was actually being used to support the local community's transport needs, something he is not always able to see in such a practical way.

"He also gave us some guidance on how we could try to overcome the perception that Community Transport is only for the mature, or those with mobility problems."


For more information please contact CTLA on 01273 517332.