Bardwell Parish Council concerns over Suffolk bus services

Simonds Buses, recently bought by Vectare, announced it would introduce a new service, the 73A, to ease access to Thurston Community College for student passengers from villages including Ixworth, Bardwell and Barningham.

At the same time, the 73 service will be unchanged between Gardboldisham and Pakenham, then operating directly to Bury St Edmunds via Great Barton, meaning Thurston will no longer be served - during school times, the service will extend from Bury to West Suffolk College and St Benedict’s Catholic School.

The announcement followed community outcry over the incoming cancellation in December of the former 304, 337 and 338 services, now the 70, 70A, and 73 respectively.

Thurston Community College (Image: Newsquest)

A statement from the company read: “This is intended to improve punctuality and reliability along all routes and introduce additional capacity at school times.”

The changes were welcomed by Bardwell Parish Council which, alongside other nearby villages, such as Hepworth, Copton and Market Weston, created a task force to deal with the impacts of the December cancellation.

Karen Witton, the vice-chairwoman at Bardwell Parish Council, said although the new 73A changes were welcomed, there was still a crucial need for a long-term solution.

She added: “This is all ‘okay’ until it all finishes on December 24, so we still have the issue that we need to find a sustainable long-term solution.

West Suffolk College (Image: GREGG BROWN)

“The current situation still doesn’t pick up on some of the other villages which are having problems.”

The ongoing problems have also led to some schools handing out black marks and detentions to children who struggle to get to school on time as a result.

Ms Witton said the task force, which met last Monday, would continue to work on its bid to the county council’s bus improvement fund, due in November, as well as look at advertising, business and operator options for the future.

“Everyone will need a bus at some point, whether it’s at the beginning of your life, through your working life, or at the end of your life, this is important to everybody,” she said.

“Some of the villages don’t have a big need for the bus - I’m not suggesting there won’t be a bus service there, but it might be a different way of sourcing it.

“The key thing is we need buses fit for purpose and that encourage people to use them.

“We need to be open-minded as to who the bus provider might be, so it’s not a case of it being Simonds or no bus.”

The next task force meeting, which also includes county council representatives, will take place next week.

The need for a long-term solution was also stressed by Adrian Ramsay MP, in Waveney Valley, who has spoken out about the impacts of the cancellation in Walsham le Willows and Badwell Ash, and recently met the company.

He said: “I recently met Simonds to highlight some issues with the temporary service, which they have now sought to address with some timetable changes.

“But this cannot be a temporary measure - people need assurances about the future and I will keep up the pressure to have this service made permanent and other services expanded and improved.

“Local bus services in rural Suffolk are a vital public service for people to get to work, college or for medical appointments. Simonds’ decision to axe some of its services would have left too many of them stranded.”

The caveat to the changes, however, is students in Mr Ramsay’s villages can no longer go to Thurston via the 73 or the new 73A.

Instead, parents will have to pay extra for the alternative TN164 route operated by Mulleys Motorways.