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17
Feb
Bus boss slams council for 'muppetry' at County Hall
The boss of a local bus company has complained to North Yorkshire Council about what he calls the “complete muppetry” going on at County Hall.
Craig Temple is the co-founder and managing director of Connexions, a Tockwith-based firm that has operated buses around North and West Yorkshire for 24 years, including services between Harrogate and Otley and Wetherby, as well as several school buses.
Last week, the council informed him that the Main Street and Spofforth Lane in Follifoot would be closed for two days, on Thursday and Friday, February 26 and 27.
Mr Temple wrote back asking if school buses would still be granted access, and pointed out that the same road is due to be closed on Monday and Tuesday, March 23 and 24 so that a telephone pole can be replaced.
He added:
Three two-day closures in a month on a piece of road is absolutely farcical. Does no one look at doing these things together?
In a later email to Dianne Pottage, of the council’s integrated passenger transport team, he complained that Connexions couldn’t serve Follifoot because “no-one can be arsed to cut trees [...] despite me having brought it to council’s attention every year the road is shut like this”.
He continued:
I honestly wonder what goes on at County Hall sometimes – it's a tendered part of the route that we can't serve because yourselves who pay for the tender can't be bothered to follow through on maintaining the highway to a legally required safe height.
It really is the most pathetic and embarrassing situation for Highways in my opinion, highlighting everything that is wrong and confirming that they are only paying lip service to 'providing buses with priority'.
It's time someone set up a meeting where all the elderly who are stranded can shout at those responsible for causing them to be alone and vulnerable.
He copied in the Stray Ferret and local MPs Tom Gordon and Sir Alec Shelbrooke to the email, saying:
I think it's about time the public were aware of the complete muppetry that is going on here.
He signed off with: “Yours very, very pissed off! Craig Temple, managing director”.
'No disruption to bus services'
His email was passed to Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director of environment, who replied to address the points raised.
Mr Battersby wrote:
Responsibility for maintaining the trees you refer to lies with the private landowners rather than North Yorkshire Council.
However, we have previously written to the relevant landowners to remind them of their duties, and we will continue to issue such reminders where necessary.
Mr Battersby also pointed out that utility companies have a statutory right to access the highway in order to install, maintain and repair their equipment. Because of this, he said, “we cannot refuse them access”.
He added:
What we can do – and routinely do – is review all permit applications to ensure they are appropriate and to challenge proposed durations if they appear excessive. In short, we use all available measures to minimise disruption.
He also said that the telephone pole work in March was scheduled for a slot between 9.30am and 3pm, adding: "No disruption to bus services is expected as a result".
'You've missed the point'
But Mr Temple replied that the lack of coordination of the two schemes was needlessly disruptive.
Follifoot's Main Street has already been subjected to two-way traffic lights for the last two days as a result of repair and maintenance works by broadband provider Quickline Communications.
Mr Temple wrote:
You've totally missed the point of the email.
The road is also closed twice for two days for highways work that could have been done on the same day (and also could have been on the same days as the [telephone pole replacement]).
Imagine your 90-year-old mother is in Follifoot wanting to get to Harrogate, and goes out for a bus, having not been out to read the notices about the closure that we put on the vehicles?
How happy would you be if someone had needlessly caused the road closure for six days in a month, when it could have been for just two?
The Stray Ferret approached the council for comment, and was referred to Mr Battersby’s email.
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