Concern over plans to scrap bus route
Residents asked for feedback on proposed changes
Dedworth ward councillors have raised concerns about proposals to axe part of a bus route.
Last month, Windsor and Maidenhead council invited residents to feed back on proposed bus route changes - with a view to make some savings.
Every few years, bus companies are asked to compete for the contracts to run these services.
Current contracts come to an end next summer.
Parts of the W1 route are currently covered by route 16 and route 2.
The consultation proposes a route linking key destinations in Windsor, Clewer Green, Dedworth, Bray and Maidenhead that ‘largely replicates’ route 16 and provides ‘a reasonable replacement for most parts of route W1 that are not covered by route 2’.
However, ward councillors for Clewer and Dedworth East, Alison Carpenter and Helen Price, both from the Borough First Independents (tBFI), disagree.
“Looking at the routes closely it provides no such replacement,” they wrote on the tBFI website.
“The residents negatively impacted by these proposals will be those who cannot drive, cannot afford a taxi and unable to walk any distance.”
Speaking to the Express, Cllr Carpenter said: “Our main concern is that there’s a doctor’s surgery on Vale Road and that’s not going to be serviced by a bus route in the proposal,” she said.
“Cllr Price and myself have been quite vocal in saying it’s not good enough. We reckon the number of responses won’t reflect the size of the impact of the proposals.
“There’s certainly areas where we need to be looking at cutting costs but I don’t think the bus service in Dedworth is one.
“Our aim is to reduce car usage, not increase it. The fact that we’re even looking at cutting this bus service is crazy to me.”
One proposed alternative by the ward councillors is to try to get the bus operator to change the route to increase take up and income.
Their alternative proposal is to amend route 16 to add more stops.
These ideas are explained in more detail with a map of the existing and perhaps lost routes on tBFI website.
See these at theboroughfirst .org/5526-2/
The councillors also raised concerns about the dissemination of information.
As part of the consultation, leaflets have been placed on buses explaining the options and how to give feedback.
But the councillors feel these ‘were not widely distributed’ and ‘not good enough’.
“It’s not really that clear what’s being cut,” said Cllr Carpenter. “Some of the problem is a lot of people aren’t aware this is happening.”
A council spokesperson said: “There have been some important changes since bus services were last reviewed.
“These include changing traveller habits arising from COVID, including a reduction in passengers that use a bus pass… combined with inflation, and increased running costs for bus companies.
Alongside this, council finances ‘are under significant pressure’ and RBWM ‘needs to make some changes.’
“All feedback will be considered carefully before any decisions are made,” said the spokesperson.
To respond to the consultation, visit rbwmtogether.rbwm .gov.uk/bus
Paper copies of the documents and survey are also available from all libraries.