Number 12 bus – £65k subsidy sought to support Alness Drive / Acomb Wood Drive route

The subsidy for the section of the number 12 bus route which serves Alness Drive, Acomb Wood Drive and Bellhouse Way is to be extended until April 2020. But beyond then, a subsidy of £65,000 per year is being sought in order to retain that section of the route.

Local Lib Dem councillors are campaigning to protect bus services

An Officer Decision published by City of York Council (available HERE) states that a report will be prepared for the council’s Executive to consider the long-term funding given the annual cost is greater than the budget available.

Some key headlines from the published Decision are set out below:

  • First York planned to cancel service 3A, and the section of service 12 which connects Bellhouse Way, Acomb Wood Drive and Alness Drive with the city centre and Monks Cross, with effect from 29th September 2019. City of York Council agreed temporary funding for both services until 1st February 2020
  • A fully compliant tender process has been carried out and the winning bidder is prepared to provide an equivalent service to the existing route 12 (with vehicles meeting the Clean Air Zone emissions requirement) for approx. £65k per annum
  • The cost of operating both services from 2nd February until 31st March would be £14,800 (£4k for service 3A and £10.8k for service 12), which is within budget for the 2019/20 financial year
  • The cost of operating both services throughout 2020/21 and subsequent financial years would be £88,700 per annum (£24k for service 3A and £64.7k for service 12), which exceeds the anticipated subsidised bus budget for 2020/21 by around £26k. It is therefore not possible to fund both services beyond 4th April 2020 from within the budget.

Local Lib Dem councillors will continue to work with council officers and bus operators to maintain and improve bus services which provide a lifeline for many residents.

New litter bins installed

The first of a batch of six new litter bins have been installed around Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward. The locations of the bins have been informed by suggestions made by residents.

New bin at the bus stop near Holiday Inn

Bins have been installed on Eason View, Chaloners Road and Tadcaster Road, with the remaining bins to be installed on Dringthorpe Road (entrance to Knavesmire Wood), St Helens Road (near school entrance) and Summerfield Road.

New bin on Eason View near junction with Turnmire Road

Wains Grove phone box to be removed

BT have confirmed that they plan to remove the phone kiosk on Wains Grove, outside Costcutter, on 3rd February.

BT had announced their intention to remove the kiosk some time ago and invited feedback from residents. No objections to the kiosk’s removal were raised.

It has recently become a target for vandalism with panels kicked out and cables damaged.

Renovation works planned for Moor Lane Youth Centre

The council has issued an invitation to tender for renovation works at the Moor Lane Youth Centre on Wains Road in Dringhouses.

The tender, issued on the ‘YorTender’ website, refers to the building being divided for use by two user groups. More details of the tender are available HERE

Investment in this facility is welcomed, and it is hoped that there will be more opportunities for greater community use, in particular as a base for open-access activities for young people.

New timetable for number 12 bus service

A new timetable for the number 12 bus service will come into effect on Monday 2 December.

The timetable is available online on the First website HERE

The changes are designed to improve punctuality, with four buses on the route rather than three. The daytime frequency also increases slightly to every 35 minutes.

Local Lib Dem councillors have gathered feedback from residents about the number 12 service

A large number of residents have raised concerns with local councillors about the reliability of the service over recent months. The end of major road works on The Mount and Coppergate should help to improve matters.

Bus stop timetable posters will be updated later this week.

Recycling banks temporarily out of action

The recycling banks at the Askham Bar Tesco car park are likely to be out of use for the next two weeks as car park resurfacing work gets underway.

The banks are to be removed by Yorwaste but will be reinstated when the resurfacing work is completed. The work is much-needed, as many sections of tarmac in this corner of the car park have disintegrated and the area was becoming a mudbath.

The resurfacing work has been organised by Tesco.

Residents have their say on Number 12 bus woes

Local Lib Dem councillors have delivered a leaflet across Woodthorpe, Acomb Park and Foxwood asking residents for feedback on the number 12 bus service.

We have received a large number of e-mails and phone calls from residents who are exasperated by the increasing unreliability of the service. Many have noted that more people would be inclined to use the service if they could rely on it.

We are compiling all of the responses received and will be discussing with First and Transport officers at the council what can be done to improve the situation.

First Bus answer questions on number 12 service

Representatives from First Bus and the council’s iTravel team attended the joint Dringhouses & Woodthorpe and Westfield Ward Committee meeting on 3rd October at the York Indoor Bowls Club.

Local councillors and residents had a look around one of the newer and more environmentally-friendly ‘Euro 5’ buses being rolled out on the route and were able to raise questions and concerns about timetables and reliability.

There has been some confusion around recent timetable changes which will hopefully be resolved soon.

Under normal circumstances, bus services are required to be registered at a minimum of 6 weeks’ notice. Part of the reason for this is to allow local authorities sufficient time to input timetable data into the national Traveline system and use the data to produce stop-specific bus stop posters – a process which involves a number of external agencies and usually takes around 3 weeks in total.

As the council decision to provide financial support to retain the Woodthorpe-Foxwood section of the route was only formally signed off last week, First and council officers had a very short time to register the service and produce timetables. The service 12 timetables currently up at stops are therefore short-term temporary posters which will be replaced with full-size composite displays as soon as possible.

The number 12 bus timetable can be accessed on the First York website HERE