Bus trip frustration taken to Minister (From Gazette Series)

Bus trip frustration taken to Minister

A FRUSTRATED Dursley bus-user confronted Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael after revealing it takes her an hour and a half to make the nine-mile journey to work.

School support worker Rosemary Weiss met the Minister during a 'Big Conversation' meeting at The Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre at Slimbridge.

She revealed how the painfully slow journey from her Dursley home to Maidenhill School in Stonehouse takes longer than a train from Stroud takes to get to Paddington.

"I can get to London quicker than I can get to work," she said. "That is a staggering fact. It really makes you think doesn't it - that's about nine miles."

Mrs Weiss has been enduring the mammoth journey for ten years.

"The local bus service is appalling. I have to get to the bus station for 7.35am to be at work for nine and I have to leave home 15 minutes before that. And I pay £5.20 a day for this because you cannot get a return before 9am."

Mr Michael, who also fielded questions on rural business, community safety and education, responded to these criticisms by saying that although the government had invested heavily in rural transport, there was no "one size fits all" solution.

"Rural transport is one of the really challenging issues and it is probably the most important issue in many rural communities," he said.

"We have poured very large amounts of money into rural transport and I have been to many places that have benefited. But there also are many places where a lot of money has gone in and there are buses trundling around the countryside with two or three people on board. It is flexibility we need and that is the big issue.

"I cannot comment on individual circumstances but the big picture is a really genuine engagement to see how we can deliver much better and more flexible solutions in rural areas."

This was the second 'Big Conversation' visit to the area by a senior MP after Peter Hain, Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for Wales, visited Stonehouse last month.