Plans for a community bus serving Weymouth are in the works.

Weymouth Town Councillor David Harris of the Radipole Ward has proposed the plan for a bus which would better serve communities with infrequent and no bus services.

Cllr Harris said: “When we talked to people in Weymouth, a lot have said that they have problems with transport and regular buses and getting to areas that they want to get to for various specific purposes.

“All of the main bus routes are well served, but there are also people that do not have bus services running at sensible times in their area like at the bottom of Lanehouse Rocks Road and Southill which has no bus service in the afternoon.”

He suggested that this new bus service would be a great way to allow local residents to enjoy community events and spaces, adding: “We have this marvellous site at Tumbledown, but people can’t get there on a bus.”

Tumbledown is a 27-acre former farm at Southill owned by Weymouth Town Council and is currently undergoing a massive refurbishment.

Cllr Harris believes that a community bus may also help the local First Bus service as well because ‘the community bus could take people to the main bus services, like the number 10 to Dorchester.’

He also suggested that in the instance that people want to get to Tumbledown they may want to catch the main bus into Southill and get the community bus to the shared greenspace as there is ‘a great big hill in the way.’

Plans for the new community bus service are set to be discussed at the upcoming full council meeting on Wednesday, September 4 and the councillor is now appealing to members of the public to come forward with any ideas regarding how they could see this bus being used.

Operators would have to be approached about running the new service, depending on the funding available.

Cllr Harris said: “We need that information to figure out what kind of bus we can afford, there is also the option of an electric bus which would be a more sustainable option.”

Despite plans being in motion, if this idea was to be approved, Cllr Harris believes it is unlikely that a community bus could be seen in action until the next financial year.