Letter: Consultation and Councillor Responses Inadequate

Published on: 24 Aug, 2024
Updated on: 24 Aug, 2024

From Dave Middleton

In response to: Councillors Respond to Criticism Over Withdrawal of Bus Service

Cllr Furniss’ reply is frankly exactly what I and the other 538 service users expected, extolling the supposed benefits of the Surrey Connect on demand service, without actually answering any of the points raised in my original letter to The Guildford Dragon NEWS, or indeed my emails to him and the other councillors for the affected areas.

As for the consultation, however it was carried out, the fact remains that none of the actual 538 service users were aware of it, so it clearly was not targeted in such a way to reach them.

The only notices any of us saw were the ones handed to us by the bus driver on the August 17, just two weeks before the service was due to end. Notices were only placed on the bus stops on the route yesterday, August 23, barely seven days before the service ends.

As for Cllr McShane’s response, regardless of what the “Lib Dem county councillor team” may have done (and we service users have no way of knowing what that may have been as none of them actually updated us), she, as the principal SCC councillor for the affected area, completely failed to respond to any emails she was sent, or copied into, on the matter over a period of some seven weeks, which is simply not good enough. Likewise, it took six weeks for our new MP to respond.

On the plus side, for those who may be able to make use of the new Surrey Connect service, two more stops have been added as pick-up and drop-off points on the route, although that’s still only nine stops from over 30 current stops) and the north west section of Bellfields is still left out entirely (so much for SCC’s Community Vision 2030 slogan “No one left behind”).

The designated points are the bus stops at:

Cumberland Avenue – near Tarrant Court
Grange Road – near Escombe Drive
Grange Road – near Mansel Close
Grange Road – near Burden Way shops
Grange Road – near Grange Close
Cypress Road – Near Berberis Close
Fir Tree Road – believed to be near junction with Cypress Road but to be confirmed.
Parrot Court – Slyfield Green
Grangefields Road – near junction with Brookside at Jacobs Well.