A presentation will be provided by Nottinghamshire County Council
Minutes:
The Development and Partnerships Manager at Nottinghamshire County Council delivered a presentation to provide the Group with an update regarding the provision of rural public transport available within the Borough.
The Manager outlined the frequency of bus services within the Borough and it was noted that even though towns such as West Bridgford and villages such as Bingham, Radcliffe, Keyworth and Ruddington were well served on a commercial basis by Trent Barton and Nottingham City Transport, villages further away from these areas were not as well served. The Manager explained to the Group that the budget for local bus support was £3.95 million per year, which had been reduced from £7.5 million over the past seven years. The funding currently available for rural transport provided 11 services within the Borough at a cost of £812,000 a year. It noted that there could be changes to services in future, but that consultation would be carried out with Councillors and users of the transport before any changes were made to services or how services were provided.
The Manager provided details of community transport provision and support within the Borough. The Group were also informed of the introduction of a S19 minibus concessionary scheme for elderly and disabled residents that was currently being finalised for introduction during in 2018/19.
It was noted that although there were 118 real time bus stop displays within Rushcliffe these were mostly in its urban areas and that it was accepted that real time displays were needed within the rural areas of Rushcliffe due to the services being less frequent. The Manager advised that in order to resolve this issue a bid had been submitted to the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership to install over 500 real time bus stop displays across Nottinghamshire. In the urban areas of Rushcliffe such as West Bridgford bus lanes and other bus priority measures had been implemented in order to help bus increase punctuality. It noted that by 2018/19 99% of all operators should be real time enabled with information accessed through the Traveline and operator websites.
The Manager informed the Group that there were currently 22,500 elderly concession pass holders and 1,000 disabled pass holders (with 381 of these with companions) in Rushcliffe. The Manager also provided the Group with an update of the Nottinghamshire Total Transport Project.
The Group expressed concern about the lack of availability of public transport in the rural areas of Rushcliffe. The Manager explained that Nottinghamshire County Council were not looking to reduce services in Rushcliffe and were instead looking to provide flexible services for residents which connected into main services. It was also noted that bus destinations such as Morrison’s were asked to provide funding for services via section 106 agreements, but it was up to them what level of service was provided and for what length of time. The Manager also informed the Group that the County Council pay for the pocket park and ride spaces.
Members of the Group also asked if Nottinghamshire County Council could work with the planning department at the Rushcliffe in order to enable public transport provision in new developments such as Sharphill and Fairham Pastures. The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods agreed to discuss this with the Executive Manager – Communities.
Members of the Group also expressed concern that train services within the Borough were not being utilised fully and that Rushcliffe Borough Council should be promoting the services available to residents much more. The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods agreed that the issue of rail services and provision within the Borough be considered for addition to the Group’s Work Programme for a future Community Development Group meeting.
The Chairman thanked the Development and Partnerships Manager for attending and for answering the committee’s questions.
It was RESOLVED that:
a) the presentation of the Development and Partnerships Manager be noted.
b) the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods discuss with the Executive Manager – Communities the possibility of the Nottinghamshire County Council working with developers of new sites within the Borough to introduce public transport provision.
c) the issue of rail services and provision within the Borough be considered for addition to the Group’s Work Programme for a future Community Development Group meeting.