Islay lifeline bus service questionnaire faults

The council should have got bus drivers to hand out leaflets to people actually using the buses for their Islay service questionnaire.

I strongly disagreed with question six, which reads: ‘I would be happy to have an increased timetable during the summer months if this meant a reduced timetable during the winter months.’

My answer was more funding, not cuts to lifeline bus services for local people during winter months to suit the summer visitors.

Waiting at freezing bus shelters during winter in Bowmore, the heart of the island, means any reduced winter service would be horrifying. Many bus users are not in good health – one is over 100 years old.

I am told other islands have better bus services.

A good way to push even more Ileachs off the island would be to reduce the winter lifeline bus service, and a good way to increase ‘second homes’ for summer visitors from far-off lands spending little in our local economy and who overspent causing the 2007 housing market collapse – sorry ‘credit crunch’ – leading to all the cuts while second homes keep rising ... but keep that under your hat!

Perhaps the council should reduce the number of councillors from 36 to 11.

Currently the small ward of Kintyre and the Islands has three – that’s wages and expenses times three, travelling about enjoying themselves doing the same job on the gravy train seems overkill and not good for the environment when one councillor would do.

Why not set up a Facebook page for each ward so constituents can post council issues and get a quick ‘open’ response?

A bus user recently told me they visited the council office and couldn’t believe the heat – maybe get staff to wrap up warmly and turn down the heating to 15 degrees across all council offices.

The Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Independent-run council trying to cut back winter lifeline Islay bus services can give up their council taxpayer funded cars and get on their bike!

Scotland gets half back in revenue produced from Westminster, a foreign parliament (the rest of the world rejected) in pocket money. Imagine what we could do with the other half in our resources rich nation – £106 billion minimum for England’s HS2 etc...

Colin M Campbell, Port Charlotte, Isle of Islay.