Simon to meet County Council to demand areas of SW Surrey are not left without buses (South West Surrey Liberal Democrats)

South West Surrey Liberal Democrats <info@swsurreylibdems.org.uk>

Simon to meet County Council to demand areas of SW Surrey are not left without buses

November 16, 2004 5:43 PM

Simon Cordon, the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for SW Surrey, is to meet Surrey County Council's Transport Manager Allan Teer and Transport Officer Laurie James next week (November 25th) to lobby against the loss of bus routes 46, 19, 70 and parts of the 71.

Simon has been leading the campaign against bus cuts with 'Bus Boards' around the area.

Simon has been leading the campaign against bus cuts with petition boards attached to bus stops around the area.

"Haslemere will be left with no sensible connections through to anywhere else", said Simon. "Many people outside SW Surrey's three town centres will have no bus at all. This cannot be right".

"Lower Bourne will be left without any bus and other parts of South Farnham will be stranded too. Take a street like Sheephouse off of Firgrove Hill. Elderly people there are being told they have to walk up the hill to the Ridgway. Surrey don't know what they are talking about when they say this", said Simon. "A population of over 4,000 in South Farnham will have no bus at all. This cannot be right".

The loss of the 46 will cut people off in Waverley Lane and Elstead.

Beacon Hill, Churt and Frensham will also be without a bus when the 19 is cut and Haslemere will have no direct route to Farnham.

The 71 will no longer travel to Haslemere at all and the loss of the number 70 will leave Brook and Grayswood with no service. Axing the 46 will mean Binscombe with a population of 3,500 people, has no bus, leaving people unable to travel to Godalming or Guildford.

"I have had scores of letters from young and old who do not know what they will do if we lose these buses next February", said Simon. "I'm determined to ensure that we keep a bus for them and I will be pointing out at the meeting that Surrey has the legal obligation to ensure that a bus remains".

Simon has accused Surrey County Council of having a "laid-back attitude" to buses. "They wait until something goes wrong and then panic to fix it. Last time, with the cuts to evening and weekend routes, they failed to fix it at all. I know that the officers who I shall be meeting would do a lot more but it's the Conservative councillors running Surrey who just don't seem to care. I want to agree with Surrey's officers a way forward and then use political pressure to make the County Council provide the necessary support", said Simon.

Simon Cordon collecting signatures at a Bus Stop

Simon collecting signatures last year, when Conservative-run Surrey County Council axed evening and weekend bus services

Simon has pointed out that the cost of saving all of the routes threatened, the 46, 70, 19 and parts of the 71, is just £150,000 a year, little more than the cost of two senior management posts at County Hall. "If they pro-actively look for alternatives it could be even less than this", he said.