Residents of a suburban estate are counting down the days in dread.
As from January 17, people in Ringlestone, Maidstone are to lose their last daily bus service into town.
Ringlestone residents waiting for the number 55 bus
As it is, the Nu Venture number 55 service only makes two trips a day, and from Monday to Friday only, between the estate – just beyond Springfield – and the Boots store in King Street.
With the first bus leaving Calder Road at 10.17am, it is already too late in the day to assist those wanting travel to a job in the town centre, but at least the service has proved a godsend to the many elderly residents, after Arriva stopped running their similar, but more comprehensive service to the estate 18 months ago.
Arriva said then that the service was uneconomic and now Nu Venture has found the same thing.
Nu Venture boss Norman Kemp said: “Sadly the numbers using the 55 are pitiful.
“The fares we take do not even cover the driver’s wages let alone the cost of petrol or vehicle maintenance.”
He suggested that part of the reason for poor passenger numbers was that able-bodied members of the community were prepared to walk up to Royal Engineers Road where there was a more frequent 101 service.
He said: “I appreciate that there are some people, living at the bottom of the hill, for whom this is not possible.”
Nu Venture boss Norman Kemp
At 63, Lesley Munn is one of the younger regular users of the service.
She says: “I probably do five journeys a week, two both ways, and one – when I have to be in town before 10am – just coming back from town.”
She claimed the service was well used.
“There’s usually between 10 and 12 people aboard,“ she said: “But I can see how it may not pay its way.
“I noticed last time that I paid a £4 return fare, my neighbour bought a £3 single ticket, and everyone else travelled free with their bus pass.”
The alternative to catching the number 55 bus is for the estate’s residents to walk to Chatham Road at the top of the estate, where they can catch the Nu Venture number 29 – which only runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays – or even further to the A229 Royal Engineers’ Road and catch the Arriva 101 service – which is what Mrs Munn has to do on the days that she needs to travel before 10am.
At present the no. 55 enters the estate with stops in Calder Road and Dickens Road
But not everyone is fit enough to do that – and there are added dangers in trying to cross the A229 to reach the bus stop.
Mrs Munn, of Calder Road said: “I had a hip replacement not long ago, and at present, I am walking fairly well and I’m able to do that.”
“But it’s a steep climb up from the bottom of the estate, and a lot of my more senior neighbours would simply not manage it.”
Plus, she said, for those that can make it, there are other problems.
She said: “You have to cross the A229 to get the bus. That is no easy matter. If you try to cross at the lights near the roundabout, cars come flying round the bend and often don’t stop for you.
“There is a footbridge over the road – with a lot of steps. Not suitable for the elderly.”
Residents say cars do not always stop for them at the lights on Royal Engineers’ Road
Her views were supported by Tony and Barbara Chapman, of Lushington Road.
The couple, aged 73 and 68 respectively, are Ringlestone residents of 26 years standing, and both have had double knee replacement surgery. They use the bus “three or four times a week” to go shopping in the town centre or to visit their doctor’s surgery in Brewer Street, Maidstone.
Mr Chapman said: “There’s a lot of elderly people on this estate, many in their 80s. They rely on this bus to get to town.
“It isn’t much of a service as it is – only twice a day, and you only get about an hour and a half there if you want to come back on the next bus.”
Mrs Chapman said: “We only found out that the service was being withdrawn by chance from the estate Facebook group. We didn’t see any notice.
“Two weeks’ warning, that’s all we’ve had.
“A lot of our elderly neighbours, who probably don’t use the computer, are probably still unaware.”
Barbara and Tony Chapman with their bus passes
Mrs Chapman has been helping her neighbour Sharon Baillie take a petition around the estate in an attempt to save the bus, while Mr Chapman has been attempting – without much success – to persuade local councillors to take an interest, even contacting the leader of Kent County Council Cllr Roger Gough (Con).
Mr Chapman said: “He just passed the matter on to one of his colleagues, who then didn’t reply.”
Mrs Chapman confirmed that walking to Royal Engineers Road to catch the Arriva 101 was just not possible for many.
She said: “You fear crossing the road, cars just tearing round the bend and not stopping for the lights.
“As for the footbridge, that’s muddy, slippery and covered with leaves – it’s no good for the infirm or those with disabilities.”
She said: “There’s a dozen or so of us who use the bus regularly but even those who don’t use it now, should be worried about this.
“Age catches up with all of us, and they will need the bus one day.”
The footbridge over the A229 is “not suitable for the elderly or infirm”
Sharon Baillie, of Dickens Road, has so far collected 71 signatures on a petition calling for the bus service to be saved.
She said: “I’m planning on putting a copy in St Faith’s Hall and in the Post Office too, so we should get more than that.”
But she confessed to being at a bit of a loss to know who best to present it to.
Her husband, Garry, is himself a former bus driver – in his native country of Canada.
At 54 and 42, they are young compared with their neighbours but both suffer health problems – Mr Baillie had a heart attack when he was just 44 and Mrs Baillie has type 2 diabetes. Neither drive.
Mr Baillie said: “The bus is our lifeline. We are going to have to think about moving, because without a bus we are just going to be stranded here.”
Sharon and Garry Baillie with the petition they have gathered
Nu Venture is making an attempt to cater for the Ringlestone residents. Once the number 55 finishes, it’s number 29 service, currently running along the Chatham Road will divert into – and loop around – the estate in both directions.
Mr Kemp said: “We don’t want to see anyone left without access to a bus.”
But that only runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and passengers worry whether it has capacity.
The number 29 starts in Peters Village in Wouldham and picks up in Burham, Eccles and Aylesford before reaching Ringlestone.
This Tuesday, Mr and Mrs Chapman walked to the stop opposite the Post Office on the Chatham Road to try out the single-decker service.
Mr Chapman said: “It was full up. There were three people already standing when it arrived at Ringlestone, and then we made five standing. The people waiting at the next stop didn’t even try to get on.”
Could the Arriva 101 service be diverted?
He said: “There isn’t going to be room to take any passengers from Ringlestone.”
Mr Kemp said that his records showed only 33 people on the bus – which was not at capacity.
However, he said that from January 21 he would schedule a double-decker to the route, so that overcrowding would not be a problem.
Mr Chapman thought there might be a better solution.
He said: “The Arriva 101 passes along the A229 from Gillingham to Maidstone every 12 minutes.”
Cllr Mike Thompson says it is a desperate situation
“Would it be too much to ask that perhaps one bus in every four was diverted to call into Ringlestone?”
Mrs Chapman said: “It’s ironic. We both have bus passes.
“The government keeps harping on that everyone should use public transport – yet there are no buses to be had!”
Cllr Mike Thompson (Lib Dem) represents Ringlestone on Maidstone council.
He said: “It is a desperate situation for some people. We were all very grateful to Nu Venture when they took over after Arriva withdrew.”
Cllr Ian Chittenden said all options will be looked at
“But they did say then that we had to use the service or lose it. Sadly people just haven’t been using it enough.”
Cllr Ian Chittenden (Lib Dem) represents the area at KCC and is also his party’s transport spokesman.
He said: “Realistically, Nu Venture’s offer to take the number 29 service into the estate is probably the best deal we are going to get.
“But we will investigate any options and will look to see if it’s possible to get a community minibus going, such as they have at Detling.”
Cllr Chittenden said he had been unaware of the problems people were having with the footbridge and promised to arrange to have it inspected and cleaned.
He also said he would set up a public meeting with residents early next week.
The no. 29 service will use a double-decker bus in future
It had been suggested that part of the problem is that many of those who use the 55 travel with a free bus pass.
Mr Kemp confirmed that bus companies do receive a payment from the government each time a bus pass is used via its concessionary fares scheme that is administered by KCC.
He said: “It’s usually several weeks down the line and is a flat payment irrespective of the length of journey – it doesn’t match the fare.
“But that is not really the problem. The problem is that there are simply not enough people using the bus.”