- Target:
- Villagers of St Margaret's
- Region:
- United Kingdom
The bus service to the village (St Margaret's at Cliffe) has been reduced to a round trip between Dover and Deal every 2 hours finishing at an impossibly early hour. The last bus (93) gets into the village at 6pm from Dover. From Deal, it is 2.30pm. There is now no service on Sundays or Bank Holidays. This drastic cut has left many villagers prisoners in their own homes. A lot if people (especially elderly and those with children) rely on the bus to get them to the shops, medical appointments and also to socialise. This impacts on people's mental health and makes them feel unequal because they have no other form of reliable transport.
The tourism in this area is another aspect. This is a beautiful and iconic part of Kent and we have many visitors/walkers who, up till last October (when they were cut) used the bus service regularly. The lack of a regular service could severely impact the number of tourists who visit. They spend money in our local businesses which of course, if they don't come, then a knock-on effect.
A taxi to the nearest town costs at least £12 one way and is unaffordable for many. We have a great local taxi service but it's a small company.
We have met with the bus company (Stagecoach) and have proposed the re-routing of another bus every hour to run in conjunction with the existing 93 service. This bus (81), travels, at the moment, straight along the A258 between Dover and Deal and could easily turn into and out of the village using the road that passes Wallets Court and St Peters Church. There are places for safe bus stops and the extra journey time would be minimal. Also, as this bus runs on a Sunday, villagers /tourists wouldnt be as isolated as they are now. Stagecoach has taken this suggestion away, but won't have an immediate answer.
The final important point is that we are all being encouraged to reduce the environmental impact made by cars. The lack of a reliable bus service just makes people use their car more.
This petition should hopefully show the strength of feeling of the villagers of St Margaret's at Cliffe regarding the re-routing of the bus.
WE THE UNDERSIGNED CALL ON STAGECOACH TO RE-ROUTE THE 81 BUS INTO OUR VILLAGE. MANY VILLAGERS AND TOURISTS WHO RELY ON THE BUS ARE OFTEN LEFT ISOLATED.
FOR THE VILLAGERS, THIS IMPACTS ON THEIR WAY OF LIFE AND IS LEADING TO ISOLATION AND AFFECTING MENTAL HEALTH.
FOR TOURISTS, THEY WILL STOP COMING AND THIS WILL IMPACT ON LOCAL BUSINESS.
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The RE-ROUTE THE 81 BUS petition to Villagers of St Margaret's was written by Maria Fitzgerald and is in the category Roads & Transport at GoPetition.