News & Issues - Reports and Responses
Response to Consultaton on Core Strategy:
Kennet's Local Development Framework
Authors: Association of Kennet Passengers, July 2008
We recommended:
(a) A pre-condition of the Sustainable Core Strategy for Devizesa is a public transport plan which includes a rail access network plan as part of a Community Area Travel Plan, and that
(b) Developer contributions should be realistic, timely, linked to 'bus inflation' (which is running higher than the current rate of inflation) and contribute to the Community Area Travel Plan above.
Please note: The available public transport and traffic data were not sufficiently comprehensive at the time of writing our response.
Kennet District Council's consultation documents please follow link to Making Places for the Future
Planning for a Step-Change:
A Passenger Transport Strategy for Rural Areas
by Peter Headicar, Reader in Transport Planning, Oxford Brookes University. (April 2004) Published by Kennet Passengers
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A combination of increased car mobility and poor bus services have led to a declining bus network incapable of meeting the travel needs of modern day, disparate rural lifestyles. A step-change in rural transport was promised in the late 1990s with the advent of Rural Bus Challenge - the funds which led to flexible services such as Wiltshire's Wigglybus (now Connect2 Wiltshire).
In 2004 Government withdrew Rural Bus Challenge and other rural transport funds. This left Local Transport Authorities with new services to maintain against an existing portfolio of bus services whose costs were rising faster than the rate of inflation. The prospects of realising the step-change began to recede.
Lack of equity of access to a good quality of life in rural towns and villages is an acute problem. Together with a requirement to reduce our carbon footprint and the position becomes even more acute and should be addressed with a sense of urgency.
It is against this background that Kennet Passengers posed the question to Peter Headicar "why is it easier to get from Marlborough to Paris than it is to Devizes, a dozen miles down the road?" The result is an important report which describes the way that passenger transport for rural areas is planned, delivered and funded and goes on to recommend improved structures and funding for a step-change.
We urge politicians, academics, planners, campaigners and all those with a keen interest to see better transport to study this report, read the summary here and debate the issues so that we can have a step-change in rural passenger transport which can bring greater coherence to the national network.
Joining in Public Transport:
Key Issues for Rural Access
by Alan James, EcoLogica (2002) Published by SWTAR and Countryside Agency
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This report charts a vision for rural public transport and its management. It is based on an evaluation of one particular project that Kennet Passengers have long been associated with, the Wigglybus. It was written towards the end of its first phase in 2002 before it was rolled out beyond the Pewsey Vale.
A key message is clear: If local residents were able to bring about one of the most outstanding national rural transport projects of its time then there is every reason to believe that rural communities can go beyond a few bus networks on a handful of routes that can turn a profit gapped up by school buses. People will continue to look for their car keys or remain stranded unless they are well supported by local authorities who can provide the kinds of carefully constructed tools described in this report.
Two chapters stand out and influenced the nearly-nascent Kennet Passengers: 'Lessons from and for the Wiltshire Wigglybus' in Chapter 7 and 'Elements for a blueprint' in Chapter 9. These were embraced by the users that went on to found the passenger group for its focus on detail, an imaginative approach and its strategic response to tackling the appetite of a car-based policy for rural areas.
As John Stewart (Chair of Campaign for Better Transport) writes in his foreword, the vision is one that doesn't assume "the private car should be the backbone of rural transport provision with other forms of transport relegated to a residual 'mopping up' role."
The report argues that the key to unlocking high quality rural public transport is for communities to be at the heart of the design and management. What they need are the tools and support from regional and local authorities.
