We need a ring road Options

[Ziggy]

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=14945

Now I have no particular qualifications or expertise in town planning, but is this not rather shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted? Ever since I have lived in the area, new housing and retail developments have been given the go-ahead with seemingly no strategic thinking whatsoever about roads or other infrastructure.

[Richard Garvie]

I've already said on another forum that with these 10,500 residential units coming online, our focus now needs to be on infrastructure. I don't think a ring road is a viable option, but I do believe the A339 corridor needs improving. The Robin Hood Roundabout needs replaced with something a lot more simpler and effective, my own personal view would be to have the A339 go over the A4. To enable this, we would have to move the fire station and I'm sure there would be a need for other works to make it possible.

I notice that in this consultation "offering more choice" regarding transport options is mentioned repeatedly. If this was genuinely the case, why are we subsidising the bus company by around £2m a year and allowing them to cut services, such as the 11 service which provides late evening services and is the only service to serve the northern streets of Thatcham? What we need is a full review of bus services and who provides them. Does all of the money given to Reading Buses go on services within West Berkshire?

As for rail, I believe that we should be pushing for an hourly fast train for Newbury to London and the South West, with an hourly Bedwyn - Paddington semi fast and an hour stopping service between Newbury and Reading. Station security is a very important issue that needs addressing right now, and I would suggest to network rail that if they install CCTV cameras, surely they could be monitored as part of the West Berks CCTV network? Information is always an issue at are stations, I know that Thatcham and Newbury often have the info screen out of use, and what I can remember Kintbury doesn't have a screen?

Another issue is that of the elderly who live in rural areas not served by public transportation. With the travel tokens gone for these people, they are often left in limbo. One good example is a lady who lives out near Basildon. There is one bus a week from her village for her to go and get shopping etc. If she ever needed to go to the doctors to get something seen too, she can't afford a taxi and would have to wait upto a week to get her issue seen too. With more and more bus services getting withdrawn, we need a solution to ensure that these people are allowed to remain in their homes.

Finally for now, taxi licensing. West Berks have issued arround 300 licences I'm told and the fees get hiked every year. It is an easy way to make money, I accept that. But what I don't think is acceptable is when we have people coming here from Birmingham and Slough to work as a cab driver. Let's enforce a cap on the number of cabs within West Berks, and work with the drivers to ensure that they get a fair deal. In my hometown, I think they have 120 cabs. By having a cab, owners ensure that there is always a driver in each cab and the level of service for residents is more effective. By having no viable plan regarding cabs besides hiking the fees each year and accepting all comers, we end up with a poor level of service for taxi users.

[Jayjay]

I notice that in this consultation "offering more choice" regarding transport options is mentioned repeatedly. If this was genuinely the case, why are we subsidising the bus company by around £2m a year and allowing them to cut services, such as the 11 service which provides late evening services and is the only service to serve the northern streets of Thatcham? What we need is a full review of bus services and who provides them. Does all of the money given to Reading Buses go on services within West Berkshire?

The number 11 bus only provides late night services Friday and Saturday, the rest of the week it finishes at 6.30 from the bus station and 6.10 from Thatcham. So much for Ian Duncan Smith's catch a bus to find work. The excuse for stopping it is it is not profitable. It is well used, but a big proportion of passengers are children (half fare) and older people with bus passes.

[Richard Garvie]

The number 11 bus only provides late night services Friday and Saturday, the rest of the week it finishes at 6.30 from the bus station and 6.10 from Thatcham. So much for Ian Duncan Smith's catch a bus to find work. The excuse for stopping it is it is not profitable. It is well used, but a big proportion of passengers are children (half fare) and older people with bus passes.

I thought the purpose of subsidising bus routes and bus companies was that they would then provide services for the elderly and students etc.