Viewpoint: Call for Heathrow bus to be restored

Email Viewpoint letters tojamesp@baylismedia.co.ukor write to Viewpoint, Newspaper House, 48 Bell Street, Maidenhead, SL6 1HX.

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Why not use grant for buses to airport?

Buses reduce congestion and carbon footprint. Using public transport is cheaper and also comes without the hassle of finding parking spaces.

Due to bus lanes and priority operations buses, it takes less time to get from A-B.

Some residents had approached me to put up a petition to restore our direct bus service, which was every half an hour from Maidenhead to Heathrow Central.

Maidenhead recently lost this service.

This service used to serve Maidenhead Station /A4 Taplow /A4 Burnham/ Slough/ Colnebrook/ Heathrow Central bus station. It had been running for more than the last 20 years.

This service had been replaced with Number 6, which goes from Maidenhead to Wexham estate and runs every one hour, terminating at Slough.

Maidenhead residents have to change to another bus in Slough to get to Heathrow, which causes an inconvenience to elderly people, parents with young children carrying luggage and disabled passengers in wheelchairs.

If you miss the connection bus, you have to wait there for another bus.

Central Government’s national bus strategy is to promote passengers to use buses, by reducing the bus fare to £2 for a single journey and also given financial support to local authorities to keep buses running.

RBWM received £437,116.00 on June 30, 2023 to invest into buses.

Why is that money from the government not being used to protect the service?

Dropping passengers at Heathrow by car has multiple costs including the single drop off charge of £5 and ULEZ charges of £12.50.

There is an extra fuel cost, increase in carbon footprint and extra congestion.

Residents don’t mind who runs this service – either through subsides or commercial – but they want a reliable, regular, direct, every half an hour service so they can travel with comfort and convenience.

More than 2,500 residents from RBWM work at Heathrow and this service is vital for them.

Residents from Cippenham, Taplow and Burnham had been put off doing shopping in Maidenhead due to reduced frequency of service. That is not helpful to the local economy.

Buses are a lifeline for elderly people and the most vulnerable residents. Many use this as their only means of transport.

They use buses to visit doctors appointments ,shopping, meeting people and schools.

In Slough, recently the frequency of direct bus services to Heathrow has increased:

• A4-Cippenham to Heathrow every 15 minutes.
• Route 7 to Heathrow every 15 minutes
• Route 5 Chippenham Green to Heathrow
• Route 703 from Bracknell/ Legoland via Slough is a 24-hour service.
• Route 81 goes near Heathrow every 12- 15 minutes.

I worked out that every six to seven minutes there is bus service to Heathrow or nearby.

I request all residents sign my e-petition on the RBWM website. If you are unable to sign please get in touch with me to arrange for hard copy of the petition.

I will be standing outside Marks & Spencer at Maidenhead High Street on September 16 and 23 between 12.30-2.30pm.

HARI SHARMA

Briar Dene

Maidenhead

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Left with cut and graze after using cut-through

On Friday, August 25, I walked – late at night – along the edge of Desborough Park, before taking the alleyway which comes out near the bottom end of ‘The Gullet’, leading through towards the railway station.

I have used that alley several times before, walking my bicycle through in the opposite direction: probably always in the daylight.

Halfway through the alley that Friday night, there was a lamp-post, which was alight, but had much vegetation below it overhanging the alley, and casting the alley into dark shadow. It turned out that there was at this point, a step up which I did not notice in the darkness.

I duly tripped, falling to the ground.

I landed mostly on my left arm, gaining: a small cut under my left middle finger-nail; a graze on the edge of the heel of my left hand; and a larger graze on the outer edge of my left elbow, despite having a long-sleeved shirt under my coat.

While I got off quite lightly, it seems to me that many another person might have suffered considerably worse injuries from such a fall: quite possibly including broken bones or head injury.

Moreover, it seems to me to be quite readily predictable that – if you put a step like this in a dark alley – trips and falls are likely to ensue.

Trips and falls notwithstanding, it escapes me how having such a step helps anyone trying to use that alley -- by day or night – in a wheelchair. Would it not be more sensible to have a ramp there?

Ode for RBWM

The logic escapes me, I’m bound to say –

Regardless of whether it’s night or day.

If having a step is taking good care,

Please say how to wheelchairs this can be fair.

JAY FLYNN

Moneyrow Green

Holyport

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Continue questioning refusal of football club

Your readers are rightly calling out RBWM over their dodgy decision to renege on an agreement with Maidenhead United FC to lease part of Braywick Park for new sports facilities.

Apart from securing the future of the football club the agreement would have created a new running track and gymnasium.

It would also have provided £460,000 for a council whose highly-paid CEO tells us that their finances are ‘perilous’.

This decision a great shame for the football club and for the residents of Maidenhead.

Councillors have been very quiet on the matter but more questions are being raised. There is also an allegation that the football club was told that they could not speak on this matter at the public cabinet meeting and, of course, there is the key question- how can a council claiming to be ‘skint’ refuse to accept £460,000 from a local football club who want to create community sports facilities in Maidenhead?

Cllr Lynne Jones (RBWM’s finance lead) has explained that the disposal of this open space was against the Borough Local Plan.

A plan that she and her colleagues voted against but are now citing as the reason not to create new sports facilities in Maidenhead.

Your readers may wonder how councillors are able to campaign against the Borough Local Plan then use it to support their dodgy decisions? I do not believe that residents have been told the whole story here and (as ever) we look to the ’Tiser to help us get answers on this matter.

ED WILSON

Bryer Place

Windsor

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Lost without my specs – can anyone help?

Would it be possible to ask if any community spirited resident has found a pair of prescription spectacles in a case, which also contained a clip on set of sun specs?

I believe that I lost them whilst shopping in M’head about 10 days ago.

I may have left them in a store.

I have been to the shops that I visited and contacted the police station, but apparently, they no longer deal with lost property, except under specific circumstances.

I am lost without them.

If anyone finds them please call me on 01628 622893. I would be so grateful to have them back.

JOYCE BANKS

Silvertrees Drive

Maidenhead