Letter from Chair of FOOPA to council officers, councillors, and First Group to voice our concerns about changes to Number 1 bus route by First Bus:
I am writing to you because many concerned residents of Old Portsmouth have contacted the Friends of Old Portsmouth Association (FOOPA) in response to the forthcoming service changes by First Bus and the huge impact this will have on their lives.
The Number 1 route currently provides a Monday to Saturday walk on/walk circular service around the City, running during the day every 10 minute. On Sunday the route operates at 20 minute intervals. The route links Portsmouth and Southsea shopping centres. It also links the majority of the key destinations in the City, including the Historic Dockyard, Gunwharf, Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral, Hotwalls Studios, Clarence Pier, The D Day Museum, Pyramids, South Parade Pier, Canoe Lake and Fratton Park. It’s our City’s equivalent of London’s Circle Line and is very popular and well used by passengers, both local resident and the many visitors and tourists to the City.
From the 2nd September this service will stop and, regardless of what First Bus might have you believe, it is not being replaced by a comparable service. The route currently followed by the Number 1 will be split between the Number 1 and the Number 3 which will not travel along High Street in Old Portsmouth and not service the key bus stop at Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral.
The Number 8 route will be extended from The Hard and will run down the High Street and serve the bus stop at Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral and is considered by First Bus as a replacement to the Number 1.
This new service will run primarily at 15 minute intervals (not the 10 at present) and it will not provide any link between Old Portsmouth and Southsea shopping centre and many of the local destinations I have outlined above.
The community has had no explanation as to why this service has been removed and the notification of the change has been totally inadequate.
The small signs posted at bus stops are misleading by omission, there is no information about the change on the bus and drivers have given some misleading information to passengers who do ask, saying it will be the same route as the Number 1 but the number will change from the Number 1 to the Number 8.
Could you please explain why you as cabinet member has allowed this to take place and why the Council has not done more to save our essential service?
The nearest bus route provided as an “alternative” to and from Southsea by First Bus is the Number 3, which will travel along St George’s Road and Museum Road The nearest bus stop is approximately 400 metres away and 8 to 10 minute’s walk from the very well used bus stop at Portsmouth’s Anglican Cathedral; longer for the many elderly and less mobile members of the community and members of the cathedral congregation.
The Number 1 is currently also used by:
1 the Cathedral congregation, many who are elderly and incapable of walking longer distances.
2 the increasing number of tourists visiting Hotwalls Arches development (now a 15 to 20 minute walk from the nearest bus stop to and from Southsea) and the Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral.
3 the cafes, pubs and restaurants in the area
4 pupils of Portsmouth Grammar School and Mayfield School in Southsea. Schools reopen on the 3 September and unless the schools have been contacted directly the pupils will be unaware of the changes
5 shoppers going to and from Southsea – which is what I use it for if I end up carrying back a huge load
The removal of the service will primarily disenfranchise many in the community and make access to our City’s attractions more difficult. It will also increase car and taxi use and further increase congestion and pollution.
Our ward councillors have shown me the response to First Bus from council officers which, to be blunt, is woefully inadequate but I assume you have personally engaged with these changes and cannot be comfortable about what is about to be implemented?
This is a bizarre decision by First Bus and I must urge you to meet with the operator and get them to change their decision, which is to be implemented in the next few days.
Response from PCC