Running alongside the Dorset Local Plan consultation is another, almost as important: the Local Transport Plan, a joint plan between Dorset Council and BCP Council, with proposals to improve public transportation acoss the whole county. It’s an interesting read with fascinating statistics. Will we finally get an all-singing, all-dancing public transport system that works in North Dorset? Or will car drivers in Dorset soon be made to feel like social pariahs? The more I read, the more disillusioned I became …
The document states that 46 per cent of Dorset residents – almost half of us – struggle to access services, compared with just 18 per cent across England. This is simply unacceptable and must change. The dearth of decent bus routes, especially at weekends and evenings, makes it challenging for those such as healthcare workers to get to and from work if they don’t drive.
Many of our hospital services, including heart attack and stroke centres, have been centralised in Poole and Bournemouth. Admittedly, most patients are discharged as soon as they can open their eyes these days, but if you do need to visit a loved one and don’t drive, there is simply no direct public transport from rural areas to these centralised hubs.
Elderly residents, who don’t drive or don’t like asking for help, routinely spend £20-30 on taxis to get to doctors’ appointments. These are not people who can walk or cycle – and as a county with increasing numbers of frail older people, the current transport system is no help at all. Why do some older people jump in a car just to get to the village shop? Because the road is so uneven, buckled from decades of patchwork repairs, with no pavements: people are terrified of falling over and ending up in a nursing home.
There are reports that the government will soon require the over 70 age group to have compulsory sight tests in order to drive. While every driver should have regular sight tests, over 70s will at some point need to consider limiting or giving up their car. This will place more pressure on Dorset’s public transportation system, which needs to be designed to meet the needs of residents in rural communities, not just the tourists visiting the coast or the conurbations. In order to prevent social isolation, any reform must take into account this projected increase in non-drivers – and especially in all those lovely villages about to be turned into dormitory towns by the housing plan.
Green dream, rural nightmare
Most notable in the document is the desire to improve public transport in order to reduce car journeys to save the planet: according to the council’s own data, a third of Dorset’s road traffic emissions come from journeys of less than five miles. It might be laziness … but if you have ever cycled or walked in competition with a tractor or an HGV on a country lane with no pavement, you’ll understand why people drive. A car is currently essential in rural Dorset. Unless the Dorset planners are hell-bent on marooning rural residents in their villages, we need to see radical improvements. Whether it’s school runs, job interviews or medical appointments, the reality is simple: for most people, our public transport doesn’t cut it. I carry a laptop, meeting notes, and equipment. I often need to be in more than one place in a day … If I relied on a bus in Dorset I would be out of a job.
Even when there are buses, they are slow, indirect and rare. Why spend two hours getting to Yeovil or Dorchester when I can drive it in 40 minutes? And there’s no direct service to stations like Poole, Salisbury or Gillingham – there should be.
Then there’s the fantasy of cleaner fuels. Encouraging alternatives to petrol and diesel is all very well, but have you seen the price of hybrid or electric vehicles, even second hand? Most are unaffordable on an average Dorset wage. And that’s before we look at the charging point deserts across the county.
And for younger people, it’s worse. The basic expense of buying a car and obtaining insurance is astronomical. So where are the affordable, functioning connections to get them to jobs? This is a generation that wants to use public transport – but the network isn’t there. It’s little wonder so many leave the county.
This is where the council should be thinking creatively to implement a transport system that works: perhaps something like the Swiss bus system where every single town and village is connected hourly, and all residents can apply for a discounted travel pass for public transport (how about a Dorset Pass for rural residents?). People use it – because it works.
Finally, I smiled when I saw the aspiration to ‘improve transport options where there are new housing developments’. The council has enough difficulty simply getting developers to restore a blocked-off footpath, never mind improving a transport system. The roads around our towns are congested as it is – there needs to be a radical solution for the coming increase in sheer volume of traffic on our historic narrow streets. We all know that travelling between Bournemouth and Poole is an endless journey of horror, thanks to traffic congestion. But I think if someone used a carbon monoxide monitor at the pinch points through Sturminster Newton at rush hour they would probably get a shock at the volume of traffic fumes in a tiny rural town.
The Transport Plan is aspirational, but it’s really important residents read it and try and shape it.
Lastly, I think the small print says it all: to summarise, ‘any and all of these developments are dependent on funding being secured’. Given the Government’s “love” of Dorset, the car will most likely remain a necessity to get from A to B.
See more and comment on the Local Transport Plan Survey here
The Dorset Insider is a no-holds-barred column pulling back the curtain on local affairs with sharp insight, unfiltered honesty and the occasional raised eyebrow. Written by a seasoned parish councillor who prefers to remain anonymous (for obvious reasons), it cuts through the noise to expose the frustrations of grassroots politics, and say what others won’t. Rest assured, their identity is known – and trusted – by the editorial team. Expect opinion, candour and a healthy dose of exasperation …
