Plea for bus service falls by the wayside

Rother District Council member Charlie Clark claims residents have “a real problem” because there is no direct bus service to the Conquest Hospital, which means the elderly and frail struggle to attend appointments and clinics.

He is also critical there is no evening bus service in Pebsham, which for instance prevents young people from travelling to youth clubs, college evening classes, leisure centres and sport.

He held a recent residents’ survey which revealed that 21 percent have no transport of their own and rely on local services.

Cllr Clark then appealed to ESCC’s transport department and said: “Some years ago ESCC ran a daily bus service from Bexhill – I think it was a 15 seater which ran in the mornings, and a limited afternoon service until 3pm.

“This is what is required now – a bus could run from Little Common, Bexhill town centre, via Pebsham, Bexhill road, and Queensway to the Conquest Hospital.

“Have you costed a service which would cover this route?

“I know you have a transport social inclusion policy – what can be more important than access to visit friends and relatives in hospital?

“The current arrangements are hard on the very elderly who have to take a Bexhill bus to Hastings and then wait for a connecting bus to take them up to the Conquest, in all weathers.”

ESCC’s head of transport operations, Roger Williams, responded by saying funding is limited and the demand for services for services exceeds the resources available.

He commented: “We take great care to manage these resources to provide as many services as possible to enable residents to access employment, education, healthcare, and food shopping.

“Whilst it is appreciated that passengers from your ward need to change buses in Hastings for onward travel to the Conquest Hospital, our priority is to consider provision for communities where local bus operators are not able to operate services commercially.”