LOCAL RESIDENTS are going to be asked to give information on their experiences and knowledge about local public transport in order to guide a council study on improving existing services, and on what new services might be made available in the future.
A new Hedon Town Council working group is being established that will review existing local transport services that serve the district. It will aim to discover where the needs of local residents are not being met. The new group, led by the town’s new Transport Champion, Councillor Steve Gallant, will identify these ‘unmet needs’ and assess whether new services can be provided to meet these needs.
The working group will, for example, examine existing bus services and determine whether improvements could be made. Councillor Gallant says that late-night buses will be a topic of study, particularly those that connect with the last train services into Hull on an evening. The working group will also assess whether new local or community transport services are needed and feasible, and whether new cost-effective schemes can be implemented:
“We will be reviewing whether some new services can be provided cost effectively to serve more local needs” said Councillor Gallant. “Hedon has a real problem with traffic and parking, and yet many other residents don’t have access to a car. Can new services alleviate these problems and help business in the town?
“The first thing we’ve done is to invite neighbouring parishes to discuss opportunities to do something on a joint basis to serve all of South West Holderness. So Preston, Paull, Thorngumbald and Burstwick parish councils have been invited to meet with Hedon to see if there is common ground.
“But we also want to involve as many residents as possible to feedback on their transport needs. It’s important we capture the needs of public transport users, and car users alike, both young and the old.”
The Hedon Town Council has asked for public opinions on a possible local transport scheme once before. That survey (June 2014) sought views on a proposal to run a small bus service around Hedon taking people into and out of the town centre shopping area. The service would have been funded partly through an increased council tax bill (precept) on local residents. However, of the small percentage of Hedon people (8%) who responded to the survey, the majority were against the proposal.
The indications from Councillor Gallant is that the new working group will have a far-wider remit than the transport group that met last year, and the research from its broader based consultation (i.e. resident feedback) will guide its deliberations. The likelihood of securing external funding for any new schemes will be a key factor.
The new working group will be conducting public survey work over the winter; based upon the findings and its own work, the group hopes to deliver a set of proposals on improving services to a meeting of the full Hedon Town Council sometime in the New Year.
Your suggestions are well made, Lewis and George and are just the sort of ideas the survey is looking for. There must be many more out there and the working group will consider all of them.
Cllr John Dennis. Hedon Town Council and E.R.Y.C. Ward Member.
I’m a resident of Burstwick, whilst I have no complaint about the frequency of buses I just wish they would come a little way into the village. The no 77 enters Burstwick at Hariff Lane and then immediately turns on to Station Road leaving the village towards Camerton. I live at the extreme north of the village near Integra Buildings and for me it’s a good ten minute walk to the bus stop. There must be plenty of others living around Elm Tree Farm estate who have even further to walk. The last time I took the bus in to Hedon it took me half an hour from leaving home to get to the doctor’s at Market Hill. If the bus would come in as far as the village hall it could pick up passengers there then turn around back to Station lane. There’s plenty of area for the bus to do that and it would only add a few minutes to the journey. I’m sure there would be more people using the bus if that were the case, instead of driving and parking up in Hedon as I mostly do now.
I think that east yorkshire motor serivces (eyms) should but serivces 75/76/77 more frequent e.g evry 15 minutes because they get full in the afternoon and put 78/277 every hour so people of perston sportley and paull can get to hull / hedon hope eyms sort something out