Bus travel will be easier for those moving into a number of new South Warwickshire housing developments after a series of new and improved bus stops were approved, funded from developers in the form of section 106 payments and were a condition of planning permission.

Six schemes costing a total of £131,000 have been approved by Warwickshire County Council's portfolio holder for property and finance, Cllr Peter Butlin, the most costly being a pair of bus stops complete with infrastructure and traffic management near the new development on Southam Road in Radford Semele, the cost of which will be around £49,000.

A further £16,300 has been earmarked for the enhancement of bus stops near new homes in Bishops Tachbrook and other schemes will be linked to developments in Cubbington, Hampton Magna and Temple Herdewyke.

The final scheme, which will cost around £30k, will be for bus stops, bus shelters and/or crossing facilities on the B4100 near the Jaguar Land Rover/British Motor Museum site near Gaydon. This followed a bus stop monitoring exercise was undertaken by the car giants in consultation with county council officers, which helped to identify the extent of works.

A report prepared for the portfolio holder explained: "The developer-funded programme of on-street bus stop infrastructure provision and improvements supports the aspirations set out in the Warwickshire Bus Service Improvement Plan in terms of increasing bus patronage and further raising bus mode share. 

"Continued modal shift would contribute towards improving the environment and support the county council and respective borough and district councils in achieving their climate and air quality targets and reducing carbon emissions."