Restoration of bus services to The Lane, Randwick?

See blogs for: 17th May, 17th June, 21st June, 17th Feb for background to this.

I have been following up still to see if there is anyway to move this forward - the County seem very uninterested and the current bus companies have not returned my calls - clearly this is a County Council matter but it has huge impacts on a few local people.

Photo: bus on Bread Street, Ruscombe

I was delighted to recently meet with a few local people who are still angered by the cut to services and want to see if there is anyway to restore the bus to The Lane or at least some other service. They have written the letter below and are now seeking support from the Parish - several hope to go to the Parish meeting this week.

They recognise a solution is not easy but at the very least this will make it clear to service providers that there is strong feeling in the area. As regular blog readers will note the way bus users in this area were treated was quite terrible - the service being cut with no consultation and not even the timetables being changed.

Restoration of bus services to The Lane, Randwick

We are Upper Randwick residents for whom the 230 bus service is an essential link to Stroud for shopping and visits to the post office for pensions. The undersigned all use the service regularly for these purposes, travelling into Stroud once or twice every week.

While it is acknowledged that after a period of disruption last year, the service is now running regularly with a helpful driver, the change of route considerably inconveniences several people who formerly got on in The Lane and now have a good distance to walk to a bus stop. The new route via Bird in Hand means that the total time taken for the journey into Stroud takes 45 minutes; no new stops have been added on this new route.

The purpose of this letter is to ask for the support of the Parish Council in raising the following points with the County Council Transport Department and to formally set down the impact that the change of route has had on residents.

1. Are there any measures, acceptable to the Parish council, which if undertaken might persuade the County Council to consider restoring the route through The Lane, for example, regular leafleting of Lane residents re poor parking or limiting parking in The Lane? What measures can we offer to the County?

2. The bus company who originally had this route have expressed willingness to do it again, and have a suitable vehicle – is this an option for the future?

3. Some Gloucestershire areas have benefited from the ‘Village Link’ services, for which funding has now come to an end. This type of service, which runs partly ‘on demand’ also uses easy access vehicles. Could the Parish consider joining us in recognising the benefit of such a scheme and requesting that Randwick is included in a similar scheme if one is planned for the future?

4. Is there any possibility of the 37 bus detouring up into Randwick and Ruscombe at certain times? This is a 15 minute service and uses low access vehicle. We would welcome a review of the current route to reduce journey times but are anxious that the service is not reduced further.

5. The ‘Ring A Ride’ service operated by Volunteer and Community Action, Stroud is an excellent facility for those who cannot manage the bus, or who have advance notice of hospital appointments etc. However it is expensive and not suitable for regular trips.

The Randwick bus users are anxious to support local bus services for their regular journeys and appreciate the free bus passes provided by SDC to the over 60s for those using regular services. Some of us hope to come to the next Parish meeting on 19th April and would welcome hearing your views on these matters in the Public question time.

Yours sincerely,
14 local bus users

This letter also has the support of:
Philip Booth, District councillor for Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill,
Pam Thorne, Village Agent