A 73-year-old musician from Garlinge says the threatened axing of the 32 Stagecoach Margate to Minnis Bay service will leave many elderly residents “isolated (and) trapped in their homes.”
Alison Boots, who uses the service most days, says Stagecoach proposals to cut the service next month will leave many passengers facing more than a mile to walk to use alternative services with those in Garlinge and Minnis Bay hit the hardest.
Last month Cllr Rob Yates, who represents Cliftonville division at KCC, slammed news that several Thanet services were to be reduced or cut.
County councillors were informed that the changes that affect Thanet from September 20 are:
- Service 32 (Margate to Minnis Bay) : Withdrawn with impact of Garlinge and Minnis Bay being left unserved.
- Service 9 (Ramsgate to Dumpton) : Off peak service withdrawn with Minster/Monkton/Nethercourt Estate left unserved
- Service 34 (Ramsgate to Margate via Dane Valley) : Reduction in frequency from half hourly to hourly and curtailed at Westwood Cross.
- Service 43 (Canterbury to Sandwich) and 45 (Broadstairs to Sandwich) : Recast as service 44 providing hourly service between Canterbury and Westwood Cross.
Stagecoach says this is due to some of the services currently operating at a level where they do not cover the cost of running them, including essential costs such as drivers and fuel.
Alison, who lives with husband and fellow musician David, said: “I moved to Garlinge on 20th September 1996, and one of our prime reasons for choosing Garlinge was the availability of the bus service.
“Thirty years later, to the day, that bus service will end.
“When we moved here I was in my early 40s and without much thought for the future. Now I have my bus pass and thought that I could look forward to my twilight years comfortable in the knowledge that I would have the bus to get me around.”
Alison says that despite two hip replacements and other sometimes debilitating health problems, her life is still active, hosting regular meetings for local writers and creatives, attending a weekly tai chi class and performing at open mic nights in Margate and Canterbury.
She added: “I shop regularly in Margate, Westbrook and Westwood Cross. My doctor’s surgery is in Trinity Square in Margate, a two bus ride away. I travel regularly to Broadstairs to meet friends and attend classes.
“On September 20th all that will be gone. On the days when I am able to walk to Westbrook (the nearest reliable bus stop where I can catch a No 8) I will. It won’t be every day – not if I am carrying a laptop and books, or a guitar, or have to walk a mile or so before doing one hour of demanding exercise, or if I want to carry a couple of bags of shopping home with me.
“On those days I will not be able to walk that far. I will have to give up my classes, my writing community and my other excursions. I can’t afford to take frequent taxis, I don’t have a full pension and am not eligible for pension credit.
“In effect, it means my life will be over.”
Alison says many of the other passengers that she sees daily on the 32 service are also distraught at the loss of independence that will be the result of the service being cut.
She said: “The subject of conversation on the 32 bus since the news broke is all the same. Elderly people in flat despair at what is going to happen to them. People far less fit than myself now angsting about how they will get to their hospital appointments, check-ups and other activities.
“Many of the those using the no 32 route are elderly and use the service to access shops and medical facilities. Many use a walker, or take a shopping trolley, or have a stick.
“Two schools lie on the current route of the 32– Hartsdown Academy and Garlinge Junior school. This means more children and mothers with buggies walking the roads and pavements.
“The no 32 is the only way elderly can access any facilities, go shopping or meet friends and family. If they cannot afford to travel by taxi they risk becoming isolated, trapped in their homes. The hourly bus to and from Minnis Bay is nearly always packed.
“As people reach their 70s, continuing to drive becomes a challenge. When they give up their driving it is in the expectation that a bus pass will allow them access to travel – on the promise of successive governments that they will improve public transport to get more cars off the road.
“Any suggestion that people without a bus service might like to carry out more of their business, shopping online is an insult. Those who use the bus, even those who pay, are already not wealthy enough to drive or take a taxi. Many like to use cash to see where their money is going or they find the internet just too difficult to work out or don’t have access to new technology.”
Alison has carried out research on how far people will need to travel for alternative services and the impact of that.
She found:
The distance people will have to travel to access a bus to Margate, Canterbury or Herne Bay
2.2 miles from Garlinge to Cecil Square Margate
1.5 miles from Garlinge to Westbrook
0.6 miles from the outskirts of Garlinge to the Hussar Bus stop on the Canterbury Road.
Similar distance to Hartsdown School bus stop at George V Avenue
1.4 miles from Minnis Bay to Birchington Square.
Alternative bus routes
In Minnis Bay residents will have no access to any bus route nearer than 1.4 miles. To access a route they must walk that distance at least to reach Birchington Square where they can take the 8 or 36 bus.
In Garlinge there will be only one bus accessible to Garlinge residents – the 36 bus from Herne Bay to Margate which only operates once an hour. Bus stop at either The Hussar on the Canterbury Road or at Hartsdown Academy on George V Avenue can be used to take this bus.
At Westbrook both number 8 and number 36 buses can be taken.
The nearest doctors surgery to Minnis Bay is at Birchington – a long walk.
The residents of Garlinge are mostly either registered at Westgate Surgery or The Limes in Margate.
Going to Westgate surgery means either walking to Westgate Bay Avenue or Westbrook to get the Number 8.
The Limes is in Trinity Square in Margate, meaning people must take the 36 to Cecil Square and then walk or take the Loop. At one bus every hour, this can incur a lot of wasted time, not to mention the toll taken in foul weather on people who are feeling unwell.
Working on a solution
However, there is some hope that the route may be partially or fully saved. Kent County Council says it is looking to find a solution to the cuts to services 32 and 9.
A Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson said: “While KCC cannot guarantee that every bus service will remain unchanged, our priority is ensuring communities continue to have access to public transport, and that children can still travel to school.
“We are working hard to find a solution to the withdrawal of services 9 and 32, and we hope to share further details shortly.”
Cllr Yates said: “I know from speaking to Cllr George Kup representing Minnis Bay, Cllr Jenny Matterface representing Broadstairs and being inundated with messages from distressed residents just how much these changes would impact our communities way of life.
“I am glad that KCC is looking at finding solutions to keep the number 9 and number 32 service alive. I’m currently keeping the pressure on KCC to keep the 32 running and am hopeful of a positive outcome by the end of the month.”
A petition to save the 32 and 34 can be found at: change.org/p/stop-cuts-to-thanet-bus-routes-and-keep-number-32-and-keep-the-34-route/sfs/copy/443349494
YMS Travel coach and bus company is also running a new Thanet service.
Route 36 launched on Saturday 1st August and runs between Tankerton through to Birchington and Margate QEQM Hospital.
She’s spot on there. Those Reform lot at KCC who insist that Thanet doesn’t need additional funding for buses need to actually get out in the real world and mix with local people on public transport instead of just obsessing over migrants all the time.
Stagecoach are culpable for always pleading poverty, but KCC are most to blame.
Over 40% of the cash for bus improvement goes to Sevenoaks,Tunbridge Wells, and Tonbridge and Malling. The other 9 share what remains.
One district ,Sevenoaks, receives more than the 3 eastern Districts of Dover, Canterbury, and Thanet, combined, with over a million to spare.
KCC seems to believe that because Thanet has the loop, everything is tickety boo, well it isn’t.
Reform are 1 trick ponies,and fixated about one subject, yet their colleagues in Norfolk are doing much better. Their bus passenger figures at over 25m journeys per year exceeds the pre covid total by some margin.They announced an expansion of services recently, something unheard of in Kent.
In contrast Kent, with 30+% fewer bus services than in 2019, have still not reached the pre covid passenger number total.
KCC is complacent, car centric, and biased in favour of West Kent, and I am afraid they always have been.
I’m hoping things change when TDC/KCC are scrapped…
Wish KCC could have a by-election Reform aren’t doing well with Thanet.
what about the 34 bus being reduced to hourly before the latest change it took about 6 mins to get to Cecil square from st Peters rd now it takes 30 mins because it now travels all the round Millmead before going to Cecil square this now stops at the station instead of going on to Minnis bay is it any wonder people have stopped using it so much yesterday I was out for hour and half and one hour of that was on the bus going from the back of the hospital to the square.Thats the only bus that goes along St Peters RD apart from one from regent every 2 hours so this will leave many older people who rely on buses to get to appointments stranded or having to wait around for ages to get bus, Stagecoach need shaking up or bring in another service —money money money is all they want and don’t care about people