Agenda item
Have your say
Your chance to ask questions about local issues and concerns.
Minutes:
6.1 Cllr Watt reminded residents that any suggestions for local improvement schemes or grant applications for the 2012-13 ward budget should be submitted before the end of August 5th.
6.2 Cllr Watt invited issues that were not related to buses to be raised first.
Residents had the following questions and comments:
Q What will happen with the land behind the new school on Eastholme Drive? Currently, it is home to anti-social behaviour and dog fouling.
A Rawcliffe Recreation Association are writing a new lease that will include this area – to include 2 mini-pitches. City of York council will still maintain the grass.
6.3 Cllr Watt introduced Paul Brand from the council’s Transport Planning department, and Geoff Lomax and Alan Isherwood from Transdev.
6.4 Stuart Rawlings, parish councillor to Rawcliffe and Clifton Without parish councils, told the meeting that he had been co-ordinating a resident response to the bus service changes and had asked three of the residents to each prepare a statement, following which one representative from Clifton Without and Rawcliffe parish councils would provide a summary:
6.5 Diane Robinson: The issue is one of social inclusion. Residents of the villages must have the same opportunities as those elsewhere in the city. How can people take part in lifelong learning, interest groups, entertainment, youth, church and sport activities without transport in the evenings or at suitable times on Sundays? The blanket policy of the council, when applied to this ward weakens social inclusion and active citizenship.
6.6 Ron Healey: The reported subsidy for routes 14 & 22 serving this ward totalled £75,725, while the estimated support for the new 19A/C route was £73,710 – a small difference. The new, commercial route is also not necessarily permanent and can be changed with 56 days’ notice.
6.7 Dee Boyle: The new 19A/C routes are poor replacements and show a lack of thought for customers. One runs clockwise and the other counter-clockwise, which will cause confusion. One is supposed to go near the hospital, but Gillygate is the closest it actually gets. Many properties will not have an hourly service due to the alternating routes. The Sunday service timings are unevenly spaced. No real consultation has taken place with the public.
6.8 Clifton Without Parish Council: Where is the evidence to say the new routes are viable? To be attractive to residents, the service must be more direct and faster. The parish council was not included in consultations.
6.9 Rawcliffe Parish Council: An affordable link to the centre is vital for young, old and workers. The previous service should have been revised, not scrapped. The changes will mean an increase in short car journeys and an increase in carbon emissions.
6.10 Cllr Watt: Members are aware of residents’ concerns. We met with the Transport Planning department this week. The 22 was a heavily subsidised service and the 14 was no longer viable due to concessionary pass use (the council makes a loss each time it is used). The evening service was a case of “use it or lose it” and there were insufficient passengers to justify keeping it. Sunday services are more expensive to run due to driver overtime payments. Skelton receives a comparatively good bus service.
Residents had the following questions and comments:
Q How can elderly and infirm Skelton residents be expected to walk from the centre of the village to the main road to catch the bus?
A No bus service can be expected run to every person’s front door.
Q The evening service is awful. I finish work at 8pm and have to get a taxi home every night.
Q If the service was better, more people would have used it.
6.11 Geoff Lomax from Transdev addressed the meeting: The proposed 19A/C service is almost identical to what the council requested when it was put out to tender. There will still be an hourly bus service to the station, but by alternating routes. Fares will be roughly the same as the existing services. Whether or not there will be additional evening services is a matter for the council to decide. Transdev have a long-term outlook in operating this bus service and they believe it can be done viably. Being a commercial service means they are able to react and change if required.
Residents had the following questions and comments:
Q Will the route go near the two doctor’s surgeries where many elderly people board?
A There are alternating journeys, but they’ll follow largely the same route as before.
Q What happens if there’s a breakdown? That could mean 4 hours between buses depending on where you live.
A Breakdowns do happen, but Transdev run 99.5% of their scheduled course.
Q The number 20 service to Clifton Moor can be confusing as people can’t figure out which direction it is travelling in. Don’t underestimate the confusion that the new routes will cause.
Q Would the 14 be hourly with the new service?
A The 19C touches Burton Stone Lane. It’s a 2 hourly service.
Q Skelton Parish Council fully support the position taken by Clifton Without and Rawcliffe parish councils.
Q The Sunday service is a step back to previous generations where people could not travel easily. Residents are asking for convenient and logically timed services.
6.12 Cllr Watt: Members are honour and duty-bound to represent concerns to Cllr Merrett at the next meeting on July 26th.
6.13 Cllr Cunningham-Cross: The key point is that people’s concerns have been heard tonight. The decision to change these services was made earlier this year, so 22 and 14 cannot be saved and the 19 will definitely be coming into effect in August. Concerns will be taken to cabinet.
6.14 Cllr McIlveen: We are where we are. The bus service has not been significantly impaired by these changes; it is only those services which were not being utilised sufficiently that have been reduced.
6.15 Cllr Watt: The key points that members will feed back are: the 2 hourly service in some parts of the ward, the lack of evening service, the poor Sunday service and the unrealistic schedule.
6.16 Cllr Watt closed the meeting at 9.25pm. The next meeting will be on October 17th.