On Monday 25th March, I held a groundbreaking Local Transport Summit where I brought together all of the city’s major bus operators - First, Arriva and Stephensons. Also present at the summit were Southend City Councillors from many different parties, members of the Southend Bus Forum and the Southend Area Bus User Group.
A group of local residents, with whom I've engaged extensively on the issue of buses, were also at the summit. After a lot of lobbying, I was also able to secure the attendance of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local Transport, Guy Opperman.
The summit itself involved almost an hour and a half of discussions between the bus operators who stated their current challenges and hopes for future provision in Southend, before allowing residents and Councillors to come back with their own questions on the crucial matters affecting the people of Southend on a daily basis.
Many interesting points were discussed at the Summit with some notable takeaways that will benefit residents. One of the most eye catching of these is the reinstatement of the 21A, which will serve Carlton Avenue. There has been no bus serving the residents of Carlton Avenue for a number of years so this is a welcome improvement, one that has been championed by me and Councillor Kevin Buck, the Cabinet Member for Transport and Prittlewell.
Further developments around the No.3 bus were also announced. The No.3 bus now serves the residents of Blenheim Chase following the initial re-routing of the No.21. The issues surrounding the No.3 are primarily its frequency, only running once every two hours. First Essex explained that the contract was currently up for tender and the potential to double the frequency would be explored following the tender process, if they were successful.
A key aim for the meeting was for me, Minister Opperman and residents to find out more about the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) money, that I had helped Southend City Council secure. The Council had been awarded £958,500, spread over two years, in BSIP money from central government, and I was keen to see it had been put to good use.
Southend City Council confirmed that the money had been spent on improving provision of four separate bus routes within Southend, the Nos.21A, 24, 6 and 29, as well as a portion of the figure being used to investigate a new route, which they hope to announce shortly.
All parties agreed they found the summit to be a useful and collaborative approach to engaging with the key stakeholders in Southend and all committed to return to the table for a second Local Transport Summit in the future.
I was delighted because given how important buses and local transport are to so many, it was critical to have an apolitical meeting with all sides of politics represented, to truly deliver the best for all residents.
Local transport remains crucial in Southend West and Leigh, so it is vital that we have a bus network befitting our new city status. Absolutely no residents should be left completely unserved or isolated as a result of a withdrawn or re-routed service.
The discussions were positive, and more importantly, the residents in attendance had their concerns heard by the right people and made their case brilliantly. I hope that the operators will take this on board as we move forward.
