Shropshire Councillors Heather Kidd and Ruth Houghton have persuaded Shropshire Council to lobby the Government to have a fuel subsidy available for the last decade in parts of the UK extended to rural Shropshire.
Heather said “Whether we like it or not, the vast majority of us have to use a car to get around in rural Shropshire. We need them to go to work, do the shopping and take the kids to school. Public transport is very limited and the Westminster Government has turned down the Shropshire bid for funding an improved network.
“When I can afford it I would very much like to buy an electric or hybrid car but, for the moment, like most people, I will have to make do with a conventional car for now. Unfortunately, we have always suffered from higher than average fuel prices in our rural areas – it’s always cheaper in Shrewsbury! – which have been made much, much worse by recent events. Electric cars are a very long way off for most people in our very rural areas and electric charging points are still few and far between.
ACTION
“Some rural areas in the North and Scotland have benefited from a ‘rural subsidy’ on fuel for the last decade and there are increasing calls for this to be extended to all rural areas. I am very grateful to Helen Morgan, the MP for North Shropshire, for her efforts in the House of Commons on this score. My colleague Cllr Ruth Houghton and I also successfully moved a motion at the last Shropshire Council meeting asking the Council to lobby the Government to extend this subsidy to our rural petrol station.
“We will now be pressing to Council to act on this motion and I will be calling on our Shropshire MPs to put pressure on the Government.”