Feedback from Parish Councils in full

Issue/query/request

Parish

From

1

Marden would like:

1.        An integrated bus and rail service for Marden i.e a link bus from Marden to Stilebridge to enable parishioners to catch the no. 5 bus from Staplehurst to Maidstone and return.

2.       A direct bus route from Marden to Maidstone and return, in the mornings and evenings, for parishioners and school children who regularly commute to Maidstone.

Marden

Erika Lock

Assistant Parish Clerk

2

Lack of a service in the North Ward. In the Walderslade area there is, after a half a mile walk, a two hour service (not on Sundays) to Maidstone. Alternatively you can catch a bus to Chatham and once it links to the 101 route change buses. Within Walderslade only part of the residential development is serviced (hourly) with a link to Chatham. 

Boxley

Pauline Bowdery, Clerk

3

South Ward Grove Green. The bus service finishes very early.

Boxley

Pauline Bowdery

4

The number 12 bus services Sutton Valence once an hour Monday to Saturday until 10:00pm. On Sunday the service finishes at 6:00pm.

The Parish Council believes that the cost of £6.00 return per person to travel into Maidstone is a prohibitive factor for our Parishioners.

Again the cost for travelling on the 59 bus is prohibitive and this service does not run at all on a Sunday.

Sutton Valance

Janet Burnett

Clerk to Sutton Valence Parish Council

5

Dedicated bus to Cornwallis school.  Arriva state this is only for children who receive a "free bus pass" as this their closest school.  Residents have been told by KCC that any child can use this, including those with Freedom passes.  Please can KCC clarify the situation.

Staplehurst/Headcorn

Cllr Burton

6

Re: Dedicated bus to Cornwallis.  Parents assume that this bus will continue to run next year - please can this be confirmed?

Staplehurst/Headcorn

Cllr Burton

7

There are on-going issues with how quickly the Freedom passes disintegrate.  What could be done to resolve this next year?

Staplehurst/Headcorn

Cllr Burton

8

The Number 5 bus service seems to be deteriorating again.  I had a call this morning from an older resident, who waited with many others, including her husband who has a portable oxygen supply that was close to running out, for over an hour when the 2.15 pm bus did not arrive on 7th July, leaving from Maidstone to Staplehurst.   There were not enough seats at the bus stop and it was very hot - so it was very unpleasant for them. 

Staplehurst/Headcorn

Cllr Burton

9

How many complaints have KCC / Arriva had in the past 2 months vs. the preceding two months?

Staplehurst

Cllr Burton

10

Bus STOPS and SHELTERS are a key issue though; safety, position, getting wet when there is no shelter etc. 

Headcorn

Cllr Round

Issue/query/request

Parish

From

11

A major issue is getting across the Borough - a service that does not exist by bus. Young people, the elderly and disabled are very disadvantaged in this respect. Many young people in my Parish/Ward like to travel to Lenham or Staplehurst (NOT close to the train Station) as well as Tonbridge/TWells and Ashford villages.

Headcorn

Cllr Round

12

The main issue with the buses is the fact that there is only one an hour and none in the evenings.

East Farleigh

Sarah O'Callaghan
Clerk to East Farleigh PC

13

We have problems with our service 59  run by Arriva.
Mainly the bus is not reliable and on many occasion has not arrived.
The times are not really suitable for rural users as it means leaving at
9.40 am with a return of 12.30 pm or 17.00.

Kingswood and Broomfield

Mike O’Neill

14

On several occasions the service is restricted or late due to road works
and the bus states they did not know of these but we were informed that
Arriva had a person responsible for these issues, but they still continue as
last week the bus missed Kingswood and apparently this was because the bus
could not get into the Village

Kingswood and Broomfield

Mike O’Neill

15

The 501 Park and Ride site at Willington  Street is very popular with Bearsted residents who either walk or drive to the site. Being every 20minutes and with a run straight into town it is well used. Comments have been made that it would be great to have a Sunday service especially during the Christmas shopping period.

Bearsted

Cllr Ash

16

The number 19 serves north Bearsted. It is an hourly service. It runs between Cross Keys and Maidstone via the Landway, Ashford Road , Grove Green and back onto the Ashford Road. A 7-37am service will take pupils into the town centre schools schools (3) and carries on to the Oakwood complex (3 more schools). There is no Sunday service. During the week the last bus into town and back from town is early evening. With no evening service access to the town is by car. This bus accessing Tesco’s at Grove Green is popular with elderly residents on the northern side of Beartsed who do not have a car.

Bearsted

Cllr Ash

17

South Bearsted is served by the number 8 which from the town goes to Downswood before going around Madginford and back into town via the Ashford Road. If you live close to Mote Park you can get off and avoid the trip to Downswood but if you live further to the east and are elderly you have to stay on the bus as it goes to Downswood and wait until it returns to Madginford. This bus is a half hourly service but again the early evening service is similar to that of the number 19. Some of the number 8 buses into Maidstone continue to Maidstone Hospital which is great although the route does go around the houses.

Bearsted

Cllr Ash

18

The Maidstone –Ashford bus , number 10 stops at Bearsted on it’s way to and from Maidstone. It is the only bus that passes the commercial heart of Bearsted on the Ashford Road. It does not run very frequently.

19

A complaint from elderly residents is that no bus takes the to the Yeoman Lane medical centre, they skirt the area.

Bearsted

Cllr Ash

Issue/query/request

Parish

From

20

Boughton Monchelsea has very limited services.  The essential ones that are missing are

·                   GP surgery

·                   Pharmacies

·                   Dentist

·                   Bank

·                   Butcher, Baker or Grocer that can satisfy a weekly shop (We do have a small village shop that is limited in selection and to survive it is expensive, Unlike other villages none of the super markets run a independent bus to the village)

Many of our children have to travel outside the village for primary education as the village school is four and half times oversubscribed.

Most of these services are, and have to be accessed by the very limited bus service.

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

21

With the majority of the population working away from the village many  use the family car to get to work. This leaves non working partners and the more senior members of the community completely dependent on the bus.

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

22

For those without access to a car or can’t afford a taxi the village is cut off after 2pm (last bus out)  and on Sunday where there is no bus service.

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

23

Without going into detailed times, in general the village has 3 return services to Maidstone per day each week days (Partly sponsored by KCC), and Saturdays (solely sponsored by KCC). There is no service on a Sunday This is limited again for senior members of the community because of the rules relating to the bus pass.

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

24

Again in general terms our last bus from town is 1745. This prevents some workers from being able to use it, and for our children to attend some school clubs/sports and activities. Sift worker are not able to use the bus service. There is no opportunity for anyone in the village to access the night time economy by bus during the week or the town on a Sunday

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

Issue/query/request

Parish

From

25

With our limited services many of the community are solely dependent on the bus service, which, proves to be difficult and restrictive when planning the simplest of journeys required for day to day living.

No opportunity to be out of the village past 1745 most day and no opportunity on a Sunday

Visits to the hospital

No direct link to a local doctors surgery. (Many of our elderly refuse to cross the busy road at Linton corner therefore they go into town and return on a bus to Coxheath later returning the same way. This takes most of the day)

Arranging appointments with doctors/dentist.

Getting the weekly shop

If a parent wanted to escort a young child to school the first bus home is 1230 therefore this would be impossible

The list is endless but I finish with consider the senior members who wish to attend a RC church service on a Sunday

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

26

The vast majority of the community are unable to use the very limited Kent carrier service (Dial a ride) because they live within 500m of a bus stop! Other feel they should be able to use their bus pass on this service and there is also a membership fee to pay.

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

27

The parish council are part of the South of Maidstone bus group While this group have done invaluable work to prevent services being cut, it has made no head way in increasing the service being provided.

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

28

It is also a concern that MBC polices require any new development in rural locations to provide 40% affordable housing. This in addition to the NPPF core principle to maximise the use of cycling ,walking and public transport.  This seem to be contrary to the other policies being put through to make Boughton Monchelsea a larger village and take more development.

Boughton Monchelsea

Cllr Munford

Issue/query/request

Parish

From

29

The Maidstone Financial Capability Partnership have concerns over this too, as Louise rightly says it’s too expensive compared to our neighbouring competitors. We have asked Arriva if they would like to meet us so that we can address the pricing issue, as it affects those that are seeking employment, trying to engage with any Maidstone Family Matter events, and it’s just another barrier on the pathway to independence and budgeting skills. You can’t even find out the price on their website!
Perhaps we could talk with Kelly Walker, the new Community Development Officer as I know she’s already involved with Arriva concerning Road Safety.
We need to stick united in this, so that they (Arriva) understand what each of our agendas are: they’re too pricey, have safety issues, and whatever scrutiny’s thoughts are …

To add to the cost point…..I can get from Maidstone to Ashford (20miles) for a cheaper bus rate than from Maidstone to Sittingbourne (11miles)!

General

MBC Officer

30

They're really expensive! A return to town from the Wheatsheaf last week was £2.50 - it would have been cheaper (and just as quick) to drive in and park! And as soon as you have more than one person in the car, it therefore becomes much, much cheaper to drive.

General

MBC Officer

31

There is a failure by MBC to initiate a full place survey of the user needs of Maidstone people with regard to transport.

This leads to the wrong assumptions being made for traffic needs; with people within the locality using car transport because there is no available alternative.

Leeds

32

There is the oft repeated mantra of the planners for the use of sustainable or public transport, leading to a reduction in the number of parking spaces in new developments. Yet often the scarcity of that transport leads to an increased, unwished for and unnecessary use of the private car (when available ). All of which adds to the gyratory traffic impediment in Maidstone.

Leeds

33

The principal Bus operator is Arriva, which is owned and controlled by Deutsch Bahn in Germany. Their planning is done from Bedfordshire. A far cry from when Maidstone was the centre for the locally owned and operated M&D bus service, operated in conjunction with the MBC  Borough line.

The trolley bus service provided a fast and ultra green service within the confines of the former Borough.

Leeds

34

All too often bus time- keeping is lax and there is no way of knowing "is it coming or is it not".  Any comments will not receive a helpful response.

Leeds

35

There is no public bus office in Maidstone. Hence, it is not possible to purchase say, National Express other  bus tickets without paying a premium for on-line purchase ( which selects against people). Timetables are not easily available.

Leeds

36

There is shifting paradigm in Maidstone Borough  in the provision of medical care. General Practices are now grouped within Medical Centres.  There is no attention to the need of  patients who  travel there by bus.  A case in point, a simple adjustment to a stop designation for P& R could at no cost have facilitated part of the travel pattern. MBC Officers showed total inflexibility and hostility to any such change. The then, Cabinet Member refused to even answer any letters on the topic.  This is a serious issue which requires serious attention.

Leeds

37

There is no viable public transport options for airport connections from Maidstone.  Hardly, the hall-mark for the County Town of Kent.

Leeds

38

Cabinet has just approved a contribution of £1.14m to improve the Bridge Gyratory system.  This is missing the point.

Leeds

39

How many of the Councillors ,if any,  attending this evening's meeting of the Planning, Transport and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee travelled to and from the meeting by public transport ?