Denton Corner

Now, unfortunately I am going to sound a little like a peeved parent of a family who cannot get their act together.

There seems to be nothing more that can be done to convince, what appears to be the majority of Newhaven and the wider area, that this remodeling can only be positive.

 

Gotcha

The Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding now the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) was £41.4M fund from the conservative governments and part of a national strategy for buses which East Sussex received one of the highest grants of all.

Originally there was to be included bus hubs, removal of many local timetabled services (replaced by Flexibus) with upgrades to others. There were six major bus priority schemes including Kings Road and Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne and A259 Coast Road, Peacehaven. The six does not include the Newhaven Ring Road.

 

What you actually got was -

 

Services:

28 extension, More 29's, 29A to Heathfield, extra 123's, Sunday 123 (now gone and replaced by a depleting route 23), Lewes Lynx, Saturday 166 and latterly route 500, N12 & N14 improvements and later buses on Eastbourne and Hastings routes. 

It brought Flexibus in a compromised form - recently cut back to 9 miles and Monday-Friday only.

 

Fares:

East Sussex Dayrider, Free then 50P accompanied children, Freedom ticket and

£1 > £2 > £3 fares. All of which have been discontinued.

 

Bus priority:

Compromised projects at Upperton Road, Seaside and here at Denton Corner with everything else pretty much scrapped.

The impact of the reductions and removals of some of these, especially fares cannot be overstated. 

 

Would I, as a parent, cross county and hospital frequenting traveler, want to see all these fare offers return? Abso-friggin-lutey!

Bus companies themselves cannot sustain the lower fares that ESCC offered. Remember they get the top up to the full fare - that's how it works. So attractive the fare deal that too many people used it, too frequently, and the money ran out. It is one of the many potential benefits to Franchising, save to the fact the set up and back room operational costs make it counterintuitive.

To be fair, Brighton & Hove have openly expressed the desire to get a multi-operator ticket back in place, but requires teamwork by all parties concerned.

 

Whataboutery

Now some say, what about that crossing, it's dangerous as people will cross if they see a bus coming. Ok, no different to Swing Bridge junction and South Way then? That is a mater for the bus drivers, who may wish to wait a few seconds for the passenger, which otherwise really should plan ahead and be realistic about their prospects on seeing one. But I get that turn-up-and-go is an aspiration and the one reason, among others for 12X ever increasing in frequency and stopping here in the first place.

The distance from Sainsbury's and removal of Retail Park on the 12, further strengthens the need for a full-time route 14 (and/or 23) to Newhaven.

I have expressed concern about route 492, given that buses cannot turn as they did before. Not an issue PM but we are looking at the AM Journey.

There has also been made noise about school 123's running up the C7 with standing passengers. God forbit there was a incident, I have already brought the matter to the attention of council and bus company. So safety is taken seriously.

 

Gift horse

Trying to find the right analogy is difficult for this one.

So, nationally the country said 'What I want for Christmas is bus improvements'.

Those listed above are as much as the county can afford - tough being a responsible parent isn’t t it?

The BSIP money also went into the building of Exceat bridge, which without it, wouldn't have happened despite all the false starts and money wasted. We could argue the need but safe to say better for ALL drivers.

Bigger transport improvements come at a price - remember that tram, cable car or seafront ferry - they need a lot of funding, but with LGR and a mayoralty - don't rule it out just yet!

Think of Denton Corner as a present - a gift card if you will. You go 'Thanks' with the tone of deliberate disingenuousness.

You have it, it has value, it's yours to spend. What it isn't, is actual money. You cannot decide where you spend your value - you must spend it on Denton Corner. 

This 'thanks but no thanks attitude', is understandable. Remember, Denton Corner was remodeled in the 1980's, based on the services then. At that time, services were vastly different to now. Routes 12X and 13X have gone from strength to strength, replicating that being done in London in the face of increasing population and a reliance of car use, encouraged and emboldened by the ghosts of Thatcher, Beenching and Maples. This itself being somewhat ironic with that same government giving away money for these improvements and a £2 fare cap.

Then you ask, who sets the agenda in a climate emergency? You maybe, but you voted that party in. Now having voted a different one in, locally and nationally - this may be the last time we receive such generosity. But then, if one rosette can do it...

There are some that say - 'This will make no difference to me, I still won't get the bus!'. Good, it's not designed for you. By the way, genuinely, keep it up 'cos is funny.

I don't know how many MORE people will get the bus here, simply as a result of the bus stopping here. But there WILL be times when having the expresses stop here may make all the difference for school, hospital, a late wake up, meeting someone...the list goes on!

Remember this area of Mount Pleasant was once to be twice the size. What's to say that won't be looked at again. I won't support it by the way!

The recent changes to services on coaster routes are actually completely separate to this scheme. Buses are proposed to be more frequent next year - so win-win!

There is still even more potential to increase services here. Seaford - Uckfield, Eastbourne - Brighton via Falmer or Peacehaven - Lewes (local). This can only really be done by not using a squareabout and saving two or three minutes on each and every trip.

 

Gr-attitiude

These may be the last hurrahs of a very generous and specific sum of money. 

This may be a gift card, there may be no refund or exchange, however unlike the norm, there is no expiry date and you can keep using it again and again.

So, I say: 'Please don't be so ungrateful. Appreciate what you've been given, because even though YOU may not appreciate it, others will and there are some out there who may receive less or got nothing at all!'

 

Here endeth the lecture!