Local community union ACORN members were interested to see the managing director of Swindon’s Bus Company quoted in the Swindon Advertiser on Monday this week, World Environment Day.
Andrew Wickham said ‘As managing director of a bus company, you would expect me to encourage people to use sustainable transport – but travelling by bus, rather than car, really does help reduce congestion and pollution. The world is a very different place than it was just a few months ago but this is our chance to embrace one of the more positive outcomes of lockdown and try to create a cleaner and better environment for all.’
ACORN Swindon have recently been researching the history of the loss of the No 20 bus route. Speaking to residents it is clear that many still want the route back and now use taxis to get to the hospital since the route was cancelled.
Clair O’Connor, chair of ACORN Swindon said ‘In May 2015 residents pleaded with Thamesdown Transport to keep the service which they used for the hospital and going shopping. Some pensioners feared being stranded in Stratton. Residents and councillors campaigned with over 2000 people signing the petition to save the route but to no avail’
In 2017 Thamesdown Transport was sold by the council to a private company Go South Coast. The managing director at the time, Andrew Wickham said ‘our ultimate aim is to enhance the services on offer here. As part of this, we will be consulting with local people and listening to the needs of those who travel on our buses’
ACORN Swindon understands that some parish councillors and residents have worked extremely hard to get this route reinstated; investigating parishes sharing the cost of the route, speaking to Swindon Borough Council about a subsidy, meeting with Swindon’s Bus Company and various other actions. The people involved are still pushing for the return of the No 20 bus.
Clair said ‘ACORN groups around the country are campaigning to bring local transport back into public ownership. Bearing in mind what Andrew Wickham said in 2017 and this week on World Environment Day, we believe he should put his money where his mouth is and reinstate the No 20 bus, so the elderly residents are not forced to use taxis to get to the hospital. As he says, the world is a very different place than it was just a few months ago and this is a great chance for him to act.’
