Future mayor must prioritise bus issue
May 5, 2016 at 11:57 am
Frustration has been expressed by the Bristol Independent Independent Network (BIMHN) over the lack of progress in resolving the Callington Road Hospital bus transport issue.
A petition was submitted at the March Full Council meeting, calling for the reinstatement of a bus service for the south Bristol hospital, which serves people with mental illness.
A response has now been received from the council, which states:
I refer to the petition regarding service 36 on Callington Road presented to Full Council on 15th March.
As you know, First Group took the commercial decision to reroute service 36 to remove the Callington Road/Brislington Tesco section in March 2015, in order to improve the reliability and punctuality of the service.
Since that time, Council officers have discussed with First whether this service can be returned to Callington Road, and considered the options for installing bus stops on the section between Tesco and the Wells Road junction. Before any infrastructure works can be further developed, we do require commitment from bus operator(s) to make use of any such facility. Whilst we have had no such commitment to date, we will continue to engage operators to see what can be done to improve the bus links to this area.
Responses to the statements submitted to the Full Council meeting are yet to be received, raising the question about whether the issue is being given the priority it deserves.
With city-wide elections taking place today, BIMHN will continue to lobby for improved access to Callington Road Hospital, and more parity of esteem between mental and physical health across the city.
BIMHN will very quickly be knocking on the door of Bristol’s new mayor to get this resolved.
May 5, 2016 at 11:57 am | News | No comment