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MORE HOMES…NO BUSES?

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Hambledon residents have until this weekend to write in support of the village’s threatened bus service, the 503. The consultation period ends on Monday (March 14th) at 9am.

Surrey County Council, which subsidises the 503 and other rural bus routes, wants to hear the views of villagers before making a final decision on the fate of the service. It is reviewing all bus routes in the county as it looks to make cuts to its budget.

Details of the Local Transport Review can be found at https://www.surreysays.co.uk/e-i-directorate-programme-group/ltr

Hambledon Parish Council strongly opposes the proposal to axe the 503. It is asking Surrey County Council to reconsider the issue and perhaps look to amalgamate the service with the 523 Milford Hospital service, which is also under threat. With more than 100 new homes being built beside the hospital, and a proposal to build affordable homes at Lane End, Hambledon, the council believes Surrey County Council should examine how to better integrate the service before making a final decision.

Here is Hambledon Parish Council’s submission to the Surrey County Council review.

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HAVE YOUR SAY ON HAMBLEDON’S THREATENED BUS SERVICE

Surrey County Council has arranged a public walk-in session in Godalming to discuss the proposed changes to local bus services, including its intention to axe the 503, Hambledon’s only bus service.

It will take place next Friday (February 26) at the Crown Court car park where representatives of SCC and the operators Stagecoach will be in attendance on a bus. Residents can drop in at anytime between 10 am and 12 noon to discuss the proposed changes and to express their views.

SCC, faced with budget cuts, is looking to further reduce the subsidy it pays to bus operators to keep rural routes operating.  Some areas will see alterations or reductions but Hambledon will be hit hard because it is proposed to withdraw the 503 altogether.

A final decision will be made after the current period of consultation ends on March 14.  Hambledon Parish Council is opposing the scrapping of the 503, which it regards as a vital link for many, especially the elderly, to reach shops, banks and surgeries.

Residents who wish the service to continue are urged to make their views known. They can do so online at www.surreycc.gov.uk/transportreview or by phoning 0300 200 1003 to request a copy of the questionnaire to be sent to their home. Copies can also be obtained from libraries and council offices.

  • If you know of someone who will be affected by the withdrawal of the 503 who is unlikely to read this online story, please contact them and pass on details of the drop-in session and the public consultation.

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Hambledon 503 Bus service under threat… again

Surrey County Council is proposing to axe the 503, Hambledon’s only bus service.

Having won a reprieve in 2012, once again the county council is making further spending cuts including the subsidy that keeps the 503 operating.

This time the village faces a big battle to keep its bus, even though the need for the service remains as great as ever.

If you want to comment on the proposal then please complete the Surrey Council questionnaire online at www.surreycc.gov.uk/transportreview or fill in a paper version available in libraries and local council offices.  Or you can request a copy in the post by calling 0300 200 1003. The deadline is Monday March 14.

SCC will then consider responses to the consultation and final proposals will be debated on May 24. The outcome will be announced in June and changes will come into effect in September.

If you care about the future of Hambledon’s bus, which provides the only public service link to shops/banks/surgeries in Milford, Godalming and Guildford then please take part in the consultation. SCC is suggesting the bus could be replaced by a dial-a-ride service.

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Many older residents in the village rely on the 503, which currently operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, twice in each direction.

A handful of residents join the bus in Hambledon and others board as it stops the in Manor Fields and Chapel Lane estates in Milford.

Because of its importance to these passengers, the Stagecoach-operated service is subsidised by Surrey County Council to keep it running. But continuing cuts in funding to local authorities by Central Government are taking their toll.

And this at a time when the need for public transport, and the energy and environmental savings it brings, could not be more important.

Additionally, an affordable housing development at Orchard Farm is currently under consideration. The 503 starts on its doorstep at Lane End. The bus also travels close to the new 100-homes development off Tuesley Lane. Continue reading →

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Guildford Park and Ride Consultation

Screen Shot 2015-09-18 at 10.18.50Hambledon residents who use concessionary passes to travel free on the Park and Ride service when visiting Guildford may like to know that there is a proposal to start charging a £1 return fare.

Surrey County Council which operates the service is inviting comments on the proposed changes as part of a consultation process. This ends on September 1.

The proposal will only affect passengers who use an older or disabled persons concessionary pass.

The council has put out the following statement: “Surrey County Council is under enormous financial pressure, due to reduced government funding and extra demand for vital services. This has meant the council has had to review all the services it provides for its residents.

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Village Bus Service – Safe For Now

The 503 bus service, which connects Hambledon with Milford, Godalming and Guildford is safe – for the time being at least.

Earlier this year Surrey County Council conducted a wide-ranging review of the routes it subsidises, many of them in rural areas. Hambledon Parish Council and many of its residents responded to this, stressing how important the 503 is to the village.

SCC is now proposing specific reductions and cuts to some services in the county, beginning with routes operated by Abellio, Arriva and Metrobus companies. These changes are now being consulted on, with SCC due to make a final decision on June 23 and the revised services coming into affect on August 29.

None of these services are in the Waverley Borough Council area. Our turn will come.

If you want to see details of the current proposals, or comment on them, please click the following link:

https://www.surreysays.co.uk/e-i-directorate-programme-group/closed-copy-of-ltr

village busOver the next two years Surrey CC will look at other bus operators as their contracts come up for renewal, including Stagecoach which operates many of the services in the Waverley area, including the 503.  Further localised consultation is expected and proposals for cuts and/or reductions are likely to follow.

Surrey CC is looking to reduce the £8.9 million it spends each year subsidising bus services.

The 503 is Hambledon’s only public transport service, operating twice in each direction on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It provides a vital link for those without cars, often the elderly or infirm, to reach supermarket, banks and surgeries.

Hambledon Parish Council will continue to press for the retention of the 503 and will make sure that residents are aware of any future public consultation.

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Bus Review – What Parish Is Doing To Keep The 503

The consultation period for Surrey County Council’s Local Transport Review has ended and the authority is now considering the future of subsidised rural bus routes, including the 503 Hambledon service.

Details of the review process can be found here – https://www.surreysays.co.uk/e-i-directorate-programme-group/closed-copy-of-ltr

As part of the consultation Hambledon Parish Council made a submission in support of retaining the village’s only bus service, which is operated by Stagecoach but subsidised by SCC. Here is what the council said.

alt“Hambledon Parish Council is grateful for the opportunity to comment on the Local Transport Review following the request by Surrey County Council for feedback from stakeholders.

The Parish Council is aware of the pressures faced by SCC with regard to funding and the need to review spending.

However, it urges SCC to ensure that Hambledon’s only bus service, the 503, remains in operation as it is a vital means of transport for a number of our more vulnerable residents, mostly elderly, living alone and without cars. (It also hopes for the retention, as a daily service, of the 71.)

Please consider this: Hambledon is a small rural village. It has a community store, but otherwise no shops, no banks, no supermarkets and no doctor or dentist surgeries. None of the above are within practical walking distance. To access any of these residents must use a car, or the bus.

The 503 only operates three days a week, twice in each direction.  This means it cannot be used by commuters or schoolchildren. So its passenger numbers are inevitably limited and this must be taken into account when assessing its financial viability. Continue reading →

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Press feature local residents

A reporter and photographer from the Haslemere Herald visited Hambledon recently to speak to residents who regularly use the 503 bus route.

The newspaper carried an article about the re-vamped service, which had been under threat, and published a photograph of villagers at the newly-erected bus stop sign at the Village Hall. The photograph is reproduced below with the kind permission of the Haslemere Herald.

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For more details about how villagers and Hambledon Parish Council campaigned to keep the village bus service and subsequent efforts to increase its usage, please see earlier stories on this website.

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Bus Stops return to Hambledon Road

Bus stop signs and timetables have been reinstated along the route of Hambledon’s 503 bus service.

Only long-standing residents knew where the village bus stops were located following removal of the post and flags over the years. Earlier this year Hambledon Parish Council requested that the signs be reinstated as part of an initiative to raise the profile of the 503 service that links the village with Milford, Godalming and Guildford.

After a visit by Surrey County Council engineers it was agreed that three posts and flags would be re-erected; outside the Village Hall, beside the Merry Harriers and at the bus shelter at the Hydestile Crossroads (pictured below).

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