Thursday 12 February was a wet and dismal afternoon in Hastings, but that did not deter the many people who queued outside the Hastings and St Leonards Angling Centre to have their say on the service provided by Stagecoach. The meeting had been called by Helena Dollimore, MP for Hastings and Rye, but as 327 people had expressed an interest, it had to be split into two sessions.
Representatives from Stagecoach were present, alongside Ms Dollimore and a number of local councillors and volunteers who assisted with facilitating the meeting. This was organised into eight groups seated at tables. In her opening remarks, Ms Dollimore, stated her desire for a service as good as that enjoyed by Brighton and said, “Sometimes it feels like people making decisions about our bus services don’t know what it’s like to use the buses themselves.”
Joel Mitchell, the managing director of Stagecoach South East, addressed the meeting at that point. He said that Stagecoach wanted to put the community at the heart of everything they do and talked about the political commitment and investment that had led to Brighton’s bus service being as good as it is. He expressed a willingness to listen and a determination to improve.
There followed an opportunity for each group to work with both a volunteer facilitator and a Stagecoach representative, to express their concerns and frustrations. Each participant was also provided with a sheet to record their personal views under various headings including: timetables and routes, reliability, fares and communication.
Following some very animated discussions, the facilitators fed back the main points raised at each table and there was certainly a high level of agreement in that feedback. Some of the main concerns were about the reliability of buses, with late running and cancellations being frequent. The accuracy of the Stagecoach app was also a major problem and the cleanliness and mechanical state of the buses was mentioned by more than one group. Reductions to some routes meant a poor service for many users, with the consequent disadvantage to elderly travellers, parents with young children, school students, disabled users and those who needed to travel outside of peak times.
In his response, Joel Mitchell stated that some of the issues raised were not within Stagecoach’s control but were actually the responsibility of East Sussex County Council. The condition of bus shelters and the functioning of electronic screens at bus stops were examples of this. He also explained that the poor condition of the roads in and around Hastings has led to issues with both the mechanical condition of buses and the operation of the app.
However, he did acknowledge that there was work to be done on the app and promised 63 “newer” buses that would be cascaded into Sussex, many of which would be allocated to Hastings. A new bus wash was in place, and travellers would see buses that were “newer and cleaner, inside and out.” All the feedback, both from discussions and the sheets provided to individuals, would be collated and considered.
Listening to conversations as the meeting broke up, it was clear that many were pleased to have had the opportunity to express their views and were grateful that the meeting had been called. It was less clear how many were optimistic about the promised improvements. “Let’s see what happens,” said one woman to the person she was with, as they walked out into the damp afternoon. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
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