The Regeneration and Sustainable Community OSC on the 10th July saw an unprecedented attendance by the public who turned out to urge the Cabinet Member for the Environment to reconsider his decision to cut the Coombe Quarry Park ‘N’ Ride.
Despite public condemnation of the decision, Cllr Harwood has decided to go ahead with his decision to close the only traffic relieving service that serves the south of Maidstone.
Let it not be forgotten that the publicly funded subsidy covers all the Park ‘N’ Rid sites across the borough, not just the south of Maidstone, however it is the Coombe Quarry site that is predominantly used by the residents of the borough. The council tax payers are therefore now subsidising the Park ‘N’ Ride sites that see significant numbers coming in from out side of the borough. The question therefore surely has to be are the council tax payers getting value for money as a result of this decision. Of course all sites help relieve the traffic pressure on our town, but if you live and travel from the south of the town, one option has now been removed. An option that saw 71,888 cars taken out of the centre of our town during the last year.
Let it not be forgotten that the service was essential to many users who needed the low bus entry facility afforded by the Park ‘N’ Ride buses.
We are told “options will be pursued including alterations to the pavement to enable people to gain access to non floor buses” we are not told when and essentially we are not told where such pavement alterations will be made.
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4 comments:
So much for listening to th people!
I voted for them as well!
so that everyone knows could you please tell us how the Conservatives would make up the £100,000 shortfall and what services you would cut
In the interests of genuine open debate, perhaps Anonymous of 17:02 might like to reveal their identity
While in the tight financial climate that many local authorities have to operate, I suspect that as the year unfolds we may find that additional financial pressure has been placed upon the incumbent administration of MBC (LibDem and Independent executive members) by decisions of their own making.
The answer to Anonymous of 17:02 is not what services should be cut, but what are the financial implications of decisions taken. It is the effect of these decisions that appears to be already causing services that the administration considers to be of lesser priority to be cut.
I can only suspect that we may be in for a bumpy ride, with a much higher council tax rise next year. It is clear early into this municipal year that there is already so little financial headroom in the operating budget as the full cost of the prioritised decisions are more fully understood, that the Coombe Quarry Park and Ride service has been cut, something that in years gone by would have been unthinkable.
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