Your bus matters – a communication from Bus Users UK

Dorset passengers to have their say on local bus services
In response to the consultations on public transport being run across Wiltshire and Dorset, Bus Users UK is holding a series of Your Bus Matters events in Dorset. Each event is open to the public, and will give passengers in the region the chance to have their say on proposed cuts to local services.
Dorset County Council has been invited to send representatives and visitors will also have the opportunity to speak direct to their local bus operators. The three Your Bus Matters events are being held on:
Wednesday 3 February –
Bridport Bus Station, Tannery Road from 10am – 2pm
Thursday 4 February –
Shaftesbury High Street bus stop (outside Hine and Parsons) from 10am to 1pm
Blandford Forum opposite Corn Exchange (outside Clarks) from 2pm to 5pm
At each event, passengers using Class 2 mobility scooters will be able to get hold of a ‘permit to travel’, the permission needed to carry a mobility scooter on board a bus.
Bus Users, a non-profit organisation that champions the interests of bus and coach passengers, will be running further events across Wiltshire over the next few weeks.
To find out more about these events and the work of Bus Users visit: www.bususers.org

Further information on the Dorset consultation, which ends on 8 February, can be found at: https://consultationtracker.dorsetforyou.com/00,consultation,12145,330,00.htm

To find out more about mobility scooter assessments visit: http://www.transportforall.org.uk/news/newregulations-on-scooters-on-buses
For more information contact Vicki Pulman on 01622 816737 / 07785 768580

Notes
Bus Users is an independent group which champions the interests of bus and coach users and campaigns for better bus and coach services.
We have the ear of all the major bus companies and a lot of the smaller ones too, of their trade organisation and of the Government and local authorities.
We operate a complaints appeals service for bus users who are dissatisfied with the response they have had from bus companies, and we run events for bus users to meet their local bus company management and local authority staff. We act as a support organisation for local bus users groups.

Free Advanced Driving Lectures

Wednesday 13, 20 and 27 April sees the Institute of Advanced Motorists free lectures commence at 6.45 pm with an 8.45 pm finish. The lectures are being held at Committee Room 1, County Hall, Dorchester DT1 1XJ.  Entry to Committee Room 1 is through the glass doors at Colliton Corner and parking is free.

The lectures, given by a class one civilian ex-police instructor with many years’ experience and a sense of humour, contain information and advice that could save your life.

As we strive to better ourselves at most things in life, why not driving?  No need to book, just come along and bring your friends.

For further information contact Jane Percy on 01305 820963 or secretary@dorsetiam.org.uk.

Do not reply to this message directly. Alternatively, visit the IAM website for more details: http://www.dorsetiam.org.uk/

Weekly Table Tennis

table tennisTABLE TENNIS

Tuesday   7 – 9 pm, weekly
All abilities welcome

Thursday   2 – 4 pm, weekly
All abilities welcome

Friday  4 – 6 pm, weekly
Homework + Reading club + Table Tennis (6-16 years)

Table Tennis Sessions

table tennis…   Just turn up
all bats and balls provided

Indoor trainers only
(non-marking shoes)

Refreshments available

For more information please contact:

  • Sue Atkinson           01258 455 778  (Reading / Homework)
  • Barry Waterman   01258 450 669
  • Peter Jones               07805 242 801

Dorset County Council – Review of rural bus services

Dorset County Council needs to reduce the spend on public transport subsidy by £500,000.
The budget reduction will remove subsidy for services that run once or twice a week. Instead, the County Council will support the ongoing development of community-based transport schemes which can meet local needs better than traditional bus services.
A four-week public consultation asking local people how the changes would affect them will start on Monday 11 January.
You can see a list of affected services and have your say about the proposal by completing the survey at –

www.dorsetforyou.com/2016- rural-bus-review

or by picking up a paper copy from any Dorset library, town or parish council offices.

Temporary closure of Dinahs Hollow, Melbury Abbas – 18th January 2016 for 5 days

DORSET COUNTY COUNCIL has issued a Notice under Section 14 [2] of the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984, as amended. All vehicles will be prohibited from proceeding along Dinah’s Hollow, Melbury Abbas from the junction with B3081, Higher Blandford Road, Cann Common to the junction with West Lane, Melbury Abbas, a distance of approximately 1,000 metres. The Notice is needed in order to comply with Health and Safety Regulations, which require the provision of safe working areas and to minimise the likelihood of danger to Highway Users. It will come into operation on Monday 18 January 2016 for 5 days.

For more information please see the attached notice –

Temp Closure Notice Dinahs Hollow 180116

PR5339 – C13 Road closed to improve traffic management

C13logoRoad closed to improve traffic management – 18-22 Jan 2016

The C13 between Blandford and Shaftesbury will be closed at Melbury Abbas for one week to allow the replacement of barriers in Dinah’s Hollow.

Currently Dorset County Council has temporary traffic management within the hollow to move vehicles into the centre of the road, reducing the risk to road users from the possibility of a landslip from unstable slopes.

The existing water filled barriers will be replaced with more substantial concrete blocks. This follows a decision from the county council’s Cabinet, earlier this month, to delay the process of stabilising the slopes in order to investigate longer term measures for strategic traffic routes within Dorset, Wiltshire, and Bath and North Somerset.

Cllr Peter Finney, the council’s Cabinet member for environment, said:

“Although our plans for stabilising the slopes in Dinah’s Hollow have been delayed, it is important that we maintain the traffic management for the duration until we know about any future plans.

“We have already had a good meeting with our neighbouring councils and will continue to investigate all our options.”

The week long road closure, in place 24 hours a day, will start at on Monday 18 January and finish on the following Friday. During this time the highways teams will also be carrying out some safety works to the trees.

Resurfacing Boundary and West Hill will take place in the spring.

For more information about Dinah’s hollow visit www.dorsetforyou.com/dinahs-hollow

Issued By:
Fiona King, Public Relations Officer
Tel: 01305 224725
Email: f.e.king@dorsetcc.gov.uk

Communications Unit, County Hall, Dorchester DT1 1XJ
Tel 01305 224491
www.dorsetforyou.com/news