Wednesday, August 12, 2009

No Fishertown bus service

The campaign to get a bus service down to the harbour has stalled again with little joy from Highland Council and Stagecoach on this matter. River Community Councillor Margaret Mackintosh was deeply disappointed and once again stressed how elderly residents of the Fishertown will need to get to the hospital once the medical services move. She stated that she knew one elderly woman who had given up on physio as she was unable to afford the £9 taxi fare to the hospital.

15 comments:

growtosow said...

same story again the old folk let down once more.

Anonymous said...

Not just the old folk my friend.

growtosow said...

young and old then i take your point it should be a bus service for all of us. lets hope they do put one on.

Anonymous said...

A bus service sounds like a good idea in principal, but dare I ask how practical it would be to get a bus regularly around Fishertown?

It appears car drivers are periodically locked in jams by the narrow streets - would a regular bus cope in practice?

- Brian

Graisg said...

Up and down Harbour Street is the desired route I believe Brian. It is also quite interesting to see on changeover days at Parkdean how many holidaymakers make their way back up to the Railyway and train stations on foot. Quite a few now come to Nairn via public transport for their holidays.
If there were a service it could also pick them up in the morning when they leave the site just across the Bailey Bridge.

Doontooner said...

Local Knowledge Brian,It does help when you know what you are talking about.

Graisg said...

I suppose getting a bus to the Fishertown might not be on a lot of non Fishertown residents radar and you would have to be a regular of River Com C meetings to be 100% au fait with the rejected proposal.

Anonymous said...

"Local Knowledge Brian,It does help when you know what you are talking about."

Indeed, that's why I asked - I hadn't seen any mention online of a specific route, hence why it was worth asking how much coverage of Fishertown was being suggested.

Thanks for the heads up, Graisg :)

- Brian

Anonymous said...

Perhaps we could get one of those bendy buses from London that Boris is getting rid of and then we could offer 'local knowledge' trips around the fishertown

Doontooner said...

You should read your local paper.A good source of local information,
for local people.
Seems nowadays,if your not "online"
you have no chance.

Anonymous said...

You don't need Boris.You have Brian
Toot Toot!

Anonymous said...

A regular free bus service has been running for about a year twice every afternoon between the High Street and the Hospital. Requested by the local GP practices, paid for by the NHS, provided by Nairn Community Transport, and driven by volunteers.

Virtually no-one uses it. The extra cost of extending this service to and from the Harbour would be marginal, it could be easily operated, and it would thus serve the Fishertown. But unless the GPs and the NHS (at whose behest the bus service is provided) agree to this, it apparently can't happen.

So those who want the bus ought to be talking to Lodgehill and the NHS officials concerned (wherever they are!) about authorising it.

Graisg said...

@Anon 12.03:
I may be wrong but I beleive Jean Tolmie and her colleagues have already tried very hard to get that service extended with no result unfortunately.

Anonymous said...

Graisg - Did they ask the right people? Community Transport would presumably say "only if someone pays for it".

NHS pays for the current service: so it is they who would need to be approached about amending or extending it.

Graisg said...

Well worth reading the article in this week's Nairnshire. 'Bus firm stands accused over request for Fishertown Bus service'
The paper quotes Highland Council's transport development officer.
'Mr Summers told the Nairnshire...
'Stagecoach have told me that due to pressure from the community council they are considering removing Service 11 from Achareidh, which would mean that they coulc no longer introduce the harbour service as planned...
The Nairnshire goes on to explain more from Mr Summers about Stagecoache's reason, size of buses etc.
and
'Mr Summers said he is trying to avoid a potential conflict between River and Suburban councils.'
The situation is very complicated.