Malvern Lib Dem Councillors Meet County Council Transport Officers To Demand Action To Reinstate Vital Bus Service (West Worcestershire Liberal Democrats)

West Worcestershire Liberal Democrats <contact.us@westworcslibdems.org.uk>

Malvern Lib Dem Councillors Meet County Council Transport Officers To Demand Action To Reinstate Vital Bus Service

September 16, 2009 2:29 PM

County Councillors Steve Brown, Clive Smith, Penelope Morgan and Beverley Nielsen, plus Parliamentary Candidate, Richard Burt.

Malvern Lib Dem Councillors have been campaigning hard to see vital 44 bus services re-instated for Malvern residents dismayed by recent changes to the service. Having met with Council Transport Officers they have demanded action and emphasised the serious inconvenience for residents from changes resulting in:

1) The withdrawal of the service to the Malvern Retail Park in the early morning and after 7pm from the Retail Park which is open until 8pm, with staff working on site until later in preparation for the following day's trading.

2) The withdrawal of the service from Malvern to the Worcestershire Royal Hospital

3) Severe restrictions to the 44A service

4) The effective withdrawal of this service around Dyson Perrins and Malvern Link station.

Managers of the larger retail operators on the Malvern Retail Park have been upset and concerned by the withdrawal of the service at either end of the day.

One Manager said, "We re-worked our shift arrangements around the bus timetable to allow staff to get to and from work travelling by bus. We have been upset with the lack of consultation and the way these changes suddenly happened with very little notice. It makes it very difficult to operate a business when key services change with no consultation and no effective notice. With the withdrawal of the later bus service some of our staff simply won't be able to get home on the bus and they will sadly lose their jobs. Surely we should be doing everything we can at the moment to help people keep jobs? "

They estimated that around 10% of staff working at the Retail Park have been affected by these changes as the Park is open until 8pm and the service used to operate until later. They are also concerned to ensure adequate lighting at bus stops, particularly as the evenings draw in.

Malvern residents remain gravely concerned at the continuing unreliability of the operation of the service with buses too often running late.

All four Lib Dem County Councillors for Malvern (Steve Brown, Penelope Morgan, Beverley Nielsen and Clive Smith) regard the situation as urgently requiring County Council and FirstGroup intervention.

"We are appalled that this situation has been allowed to happen without any consultation with either residents or businesses," said Councillor Penelope Morgan

"As Lib Dems we want to do everything we can to help businesses keep valuable staff and encourage them to use sustainable ways of getting in and out of work, such as on the buses," said Councillor Beverley Nielsen

"The decision goes against all our stated goals for integrated and sustainable transport and will certainly result in more car journeys between Malvern and Worcester," said Councillor Steve Brown.

"Many people in the area rely on this service, especially older residents and those who may need to visit the hospital. It is hard to believe that no one has considered the impact on residents in Malvern," said Councillor Clive Smith