Campaigners have expressed disappointment that Test Valley Borough Council will not be debating changes to local bus routes at its January meeting. A motion submitted by me and Mike McGarry calling for a review of the changes and the subsidy given by Hampshire County Council will be deferred to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny committee for consideration.

It is a pity we will not be able to discuss the proposals now. I would now expect the committee to look at this and report back to full council as soon as possible. The county council must accept Andover is a growing town and needs an adequate public bus network. Not everyone has access to cars; many residents rely on the buses. We should be encouraging everyone to reduce CO2 emissions by using cars less and buses more and yet the county is sanctioning by its actions a reduction in bus services.

Councillors will still discuss the matter at the Andover Forum on 25th January when Cllr Rod Bailey has called for a report on the proposals to be presented.

Andover Lib Dems are backing local calls for a review of bus services in the town. I am not happy with Stagecoach’s proposals to reschedule local services in January. The new routes and timetables represent a cut in services. Stagecoach has been forced into this position because of lack of funding from the Tory controlled county council.

St Mary’s councillor Rod Bailey and I have held discussions with county councillors on the matter and Rod has called for a report on the new services to be brought to the next Andover Forum. We believe the county and borough council should be looking for ways to increase not cut local services.

We are also fully behind the campaign to bring Sunday bus services to Andover. Our parliamentary candidate Tom McCann recently met local campaigner Barbara Carpenter and gave his full support to her petition for Sunday bus services. The petition is available in many shops around town or from len.gates@andover.co.uk.

Tom said “local shops are now open on Sundays and many other events take place in the town centre after the buses have stopped running. The local councils should be looking at ways to encourage people into the town centre. Not everyone has access to a car or wants to use one. A good public transport service is essential to the economy and future of Andover.”

After the shortsightedness shown by the county council (see below) it was a pleasure to talk to Mrs Barbara Carpenter of Roman Way who, rather than complaining about the lack of buses, is doing something about it. She has recently started a petition calling for more buses in Andover, especially on Sundays. The petition has widespread support particularly among  older residents who rely on public transport and who are unable to get any where on Sundays unless walking or paying for expensive taxis.

This lack of buses was highlighted on Remembrance Sunday when many residents who would have liked to get to the Remembrance Service  in town were unable to do so. It is also a problem in the evenings where in many areas buses stop at 6:00pm or earlier.

I have discussed this with bus operators and the willingness to extend services is there if the local council supports them. I will be asking what we can do to support and improve services. Unfortunately some councillors see this as a waste of time and some have blamed the government for lack of subsidy, claiming all the money has been spent on free bus passes. None of this is true and even if it were this is no excuse for not trying to improve the existing services.

Free bus passes are no use when there aren’t any buses to use them on. Our shops are open on Sundays why not run bus services so residents can use these shops. Not everyone has access to a car, not everyone wants to use their car. We should be encouraging environmentally friendly alternatives, what better than a public bus service. Our Victorian ancestors were proud to promote public services we should do the same.

If you would like to help Barbara’s campaign please let me know and I will pass your details on.

I was disappointed to see that in the revised bus timetables for Andover Stagecoach is proposing to pull out of two routes and restructure several others. This has apparently all been welcomed by the county council which is ultimately responsible for public transport services in Hampshire. Particularly disappointing is the fact that these changes have been agreed without comment from our local county councillors. No wonder some people see the county council as increasingly irrelevant to the needs of Andover and a retirement home for aging Tory politicians.

At a time when the world is facing major environmental catastrophe we should be looking to reduce our CO2 emmisions not increase them. The biggest single source of CO2 is private cars and I would expect the county council to be promoting increased use of public transport such as buses to reduce pollution and congestion. Not so in Hampshire where saving money takes priority over saving the planet.

I have asked for more details of these proposals and will be  looking to see what effect they have on the large number of local residents who don’t have access to private cars and are totally dependent on bus transport to get around town. Andover’s bus services need expanding not contracting. I would expect the county and borough councils to be looking at ways to do this and will be pushing them to do so.

A new shuttle bus service will be commencing in June for patients needing to get to Winchester Hospital from the Andover area. A pre-bookable shuttle bus (fully accessible and with capacity for 2 wheel chairs) will run four return journeys direct to the hospital. The bus will start from Andover hospital, stopping to collect patients from Andover Bus Station and Stockbridge (at Trafalgar Close, if pre-booked). The journeys will be free for this service. The scheme is being promoted by the Winchester & Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust and is supported by Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council. Leaflets publicising the new service can be collected from GP’s surgeries, the library, the Council offices, the hospital and downloaded from the Council’s web pages.

I am pleased to see this service finally coming in to operation after many months, if not years of campaigning by Andover councillors in pareticular St Mary’s councillor Rod Bailey. Well done Rod for working as always for the residents of Andover.  

During the installation of raised kerbs for local bus stops the bus shelter at Rhodes Square was damaged and removed. Thanks to pressure from local councillors it has now been replaced.

This bus stop is very exposed and it is unacceptable to expect passengers to wait there without a shelter. Although it has taken a long time to replace the shelter I am grateful to highways officers for pushing this project to the top of the agenda and to county councillor Robin Hughes for his help in ensuring the job was finished as soon as possible.

I am happy to join Smannell Lib Dem campaigner and transport consultant Nigel Gooding in launching a campaign to provide a greener, safer, reliable bus service to Andover Railway Station from Smannell, Little London and Enham Alamein.Nigel, who was responsible for establishing the award winning National Rail Enquiry Service, has undertaken a survey of public transport in the villages of Smannell, Little London and Enham. His findings found that despite daytime CANGO Hampshire County Council time services to Andover, no bus service actually went to Andover Railway Station. As a result residents of the 2 parishes were left with no alternative to use their motor cars and fight for a parking space at the under pressure Andover station car park. We have passed the details of their findings to Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Smannell and Enham Parish Councils Robin Hughes who said today. “It makes economic and environmental sense that Smannell and Enham to have the same opportunities as other parishes in terms of the provision of a commuter CANGO bus service linking road and rail at Andover Station.

For full details see the Smannell Lib Dem blog at  http://smannelllibdems.blogspot.com