HCC Funding Meeting
- BackOurBuses
- Mar 10
- 3 min read
A meeting of Hampshire County Council took place on Monday 2nd March.
This meeting was the 'decision day for Universal Services, and Highways and Passenger Transport' and touched on the current BSIP (Bus Service Improvement Plan) funding grant which is available for use in 2026/2027.
Parish Councillor for Colden Common, Debbie Harding, attended this meeting.
She put forward the views of the Parish Council, local residents and also the views of the Back Our Buses campaign.
County Councillor Jonathan Williams was also in attendance and raised concerns and fair points relating to the situation as well.
Some of the other members in attendance were, amongst others:
Councillor Lulu Bowerman, Executive Lead member for Highways and Passenger Transport
Councillor Kirsty North, Executive Lead Member for Universal Services
Councillor Malcolm Wallace, Councillor for Central Meon Valley
Councillor Jackie Porter, Councillor for The Worthys
Patrick Blogg, Director of Universal Services
Andrew Wilson, Hampshire County Council Officer
Please see below a summary of Parish Councillor Debbie Harding's well-presented deputation:
"I am pleased to read criteria for the use of local government bus funding has changed ...guiding principles include promoting bus use for education and supporting socially necessary bus services.
The reason for my deputation today is to raise the impact of the connectivity gap caused by the lack of a direct bus service between Eastleigh and Winchester.
In the year ending August 2025, 81,000 passengers used the service between Winchester and Eastleigh.
The service was used by residents from Eastleigh, Boyatt Wood, Allbrook, Colden Common, Twyford, and Winchester.
The service was essential for many to travel to to work, for leisure, for shopping in Eastleigh, provided access to Royal Hampshire County Hospital and it was the only direct bus service to Eastleigh College and was used for students attending Peter Symonds and Barton Peverell.
Six months after the service was withdrawn, the impact on people's daily lives is so great a group of Colden Common residents have set up a campaign group, Back our Buses (BOB) which has growing support on social media and it's website.
A service linking Winchester to Eastleigh strongly aligns with the core policies in the local transport plan.
Agenda item four highlights today a new transport strategy is required for easing transport issues impacting residents and businesses.
The report also highlights that some major roads are heavily congested at peak times. The scale of development in and around Eastleigh means this situation will only worsen.
When considering the distribution of this funding, please extend public transport options, by providing a link between Winchester and Eastleigh via Colden Common to address the gap.
Active travel options are not feasible on existing roads for many.
This connectivity gap could be addressed in a variety of ways, with some initial financial support.
Building a viable route will have significant benefits for people of all demographics, the environment and the wider economy.
Please can the recommended allocation for funding enable creative solutions to be found."
Here is a very good point that Cllr Jonathan Williams also raised:
"There's also the Eastleigh travel plan that's going through.. there's one extract I saw whereby it highlights high through-traffic levels along the B3354/ Winchester Road corridor lead to poor local environmental conditions for residents in settlements either side of the road.
Now although Colden Common and Twyford have identified needs, no identified solutions to this issue have been found. I wanted to say... a bus
service would reduce the volumes of traffic along that area. "
Councillor Jackie Porter also raised similar concerns for her area, The Worthys, including highlighting the recent uncertainty around the Kings Worthy School Bus.
Please see a full video recording of the meeting below to see how these deputations were responded to - please note the meeting starts about 10 minutes into the video:
Linked document:
We would love to hear your comments on this meeting, please comment below on the blog post or send us an email with your thoughts.
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