Sue makes final plea for Pegasus bus service

11.36.20pm GMT Mon 2nd Nov 2009

Tillingbourne School serves many villages. The current 5 bus service would be greatly missed

Sue Doughty has today sent a final appeal to all members of Surrey County Council's Cabinet in an attempt to save the Pegasus Bus Service.

With a crucial meeting scheduled for Tuesday to decide the fate of the service, Sue has asked for more time to consider the impact of axing the service. She said:

"This is a vital service, and one which I have supported since its inception. We rely on this service in so many ways, and if it goes there will be a massive impact on families, communities around schools and the County's Climate Change plan."

"Sadly the council's incompetence has led to this decision, and we now find that the overspend on the ineffective road repair contract is having ramifications in many other areas. It's a pity that the council has failed to get tough on the road repair contract and has instead picked on this essential service.

Ends

Notes for Editors:

Sue's email to County Councillors follows:

I am writing to you ahead of the cabinet meeting tomorrow to ask you to reconsider the decision to terminate this service at the end of the current year. I believe that a solution to this problem can be found which might reduce cost and I am also deeply concerned about the impact of this decision.

While I was the MP for Guildford I fully supported Surrey in the decision to implement the Pegasus service, indeed I pushed for an end to the delays which meant that the buses were not put into use as quickly as possible. The decision to end this service seems to have been made more rapidly than the work involved in implementing it. However the impact on families, schools, the surrounding communities and the climate seems to have been given little consideration. Indeed there are many questions which are unanswered and I hope will be addressed in the meeting tomorrow.

What account has been taken of the needs of working parents who will now experience problems of getting to work on time as a result of the proposed change?

What account has been taken of the problems for parents arising from having children at different schools possibly in opposite directions from home?

What assessment has been made of the viability of an increase in charges for use of the service?

Whether you have asked Headteachers to undertake any review into the impact of terminating the contract and indeed what changes would be acceptable to schools and parents to reduce the overall cost of the service?

What impact will there be on the area surrounding schools which use Pegasus buses in terms of parking, congestion and nuisance to residents?

What assessment has been made of alternate route planning to reduce costs?

What assessment has been made of the impact on climate change reduction as a result of increased car traffic and associated congestion around schools?

What is the additional cost of providing an alternate service for those children for whom the County is required to provide transport?

I hope that after consideration at the meeting you will postpone any decision until after a rather more detailed investigation has been made of the impact of this decision.

Yours sincerely

Sue Doughty was elected to the Guildford Constituency in 2001 and lost by 347 votes in 2005, having achieved more votes than 2/3 of elected MPs.

Sue has been selected as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate by Guildford Liberal Democrats