OUR MP HAS PUT SIX QUESTIONS TO ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL

Dear supporters,

Since our last update, when we passed 3,000 signatures, there have been two significant developments - one disappointing, and one much more promising.

First, the disappointing one. Essex County Council replied again to Dr Neil Hudson MP, who had written to both them and Transport for London about the state of Waltham Abbey's bus service, the cuts to Arriva's '66', and the town's isolation from the wider TfL network.

The reply, from Cllr Mark Webster, Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure at Essex County Council, addressed only the Arriva route 66. It explained that most bus services in Essex are commercial, that the council has no regulatory power over them, and that anyone dissatisfied with an operator could contact Bus Users, a passenger advocacy charity.

Nobody had asked Essex County Council to compel a commercial operator to do anything. Nobody disputes the fact that they can't. The question is whether Essex County Council will use its own funding and its own powers to work with Transport for London on extending TfL routes that already run to the very edge of our town. That was not addressed at all. Transport for London was not even mentioned, despite Dr Hudson having written to them too.

The reply also stepped back from Cllr Webster's own earlier correspondence, in which he had confirmed that where no commercial service exists, the council does assess gaps and will consider funding a service under its Local Bus Priority Policy, and crucially, that he had been in discussions with the transport team and would "likely be reviewing the current plans and policies". We covered this in our previous update. None of that appeared in the second reply.

Now the more promising development.

We wrote back to Dr Hudson setting all of this out, and proposing six specific questions for Essex County Council - questions that concern the council's own powers and its own stated position, and which cannot be answered by pointing at a commercial operator. That same day this week, Dr Hudson confirmed that he has written to Essex County Council again, putting those questions directly to them.

In summary, these questions ask:

1. Is the review of inherited transport plans and policies now underway, what is its scope, when will it conclude, and will it consider working with Transport for London on cross-boundary provision?
2. Will the council assess Waltham Abbey's specific gaps under its own Local Bus Priority Policy - no bus of any kind into Greater London, no service to Chingford, the collapse of evening provision, and a mere single hourly route on Sundays, and commercial services that residents report simply failing to turn up?
3. TfL has confirmed that it is willing to work with Essex County Council. More than one in ten routes on TfL's entire London bus network already operate beyond the Greater London Authority boundary. Will the council open formal discussions with TfL on bus routes in Waltham Abbey, and if not, what specifically prevents it from doing so?
4. Twelve TfL bus routes operate within the Epping Forest District. Until 2016, the council contributed towards two of them (London Buses routes 20 and 167). Ten years after this subsidy was withdrawn, both still provide frequent, comprehensive cross-boundary services to Loughton and Debden - alongside other TfL routes operating around the district. Given the council now holds over £68 million in government bus funding, will it reinstate a contribution of this kind to serve Waltham Abbey?
5. Every station serving Waltham Abbey - whether it be mainline or Underground - lies within TfL fare zones, yet no local bus accepts Oyster, the Hopper fare, daily network-wide capping, or free travel for under-16s. The council already funds an additional bus journey between Debden and Chingford, where Oyster is accepted. Will the council seek TfL fare acceptance on the services it funds here? Does the council accept that extending TfL routes into the town would resolve this at a stroke, bringing Waltham Abbey into the same fare system as almost every community around them?
6. Almost every neighbouring area is connected to the TfL network in some form - Loughton, Debden and Buckhurst Hill by the Central Line and TfL buses, Waltham Cross and Chingford by TfL bus stations and TfL fare zones, Epping and Theydon Bois by the Central Line, Cheshunt by the Overground. Waltham Abbey, a town of 23,000 people sitting directly on the Greater London boundary, has none of it. Two TfL routes reach the southern edge of the parish and terminate there. Does the council accept that this isolation is holding back our town centre and local economy, and what does it intend to do about it?

We are very grateful to Dr Hudson for taking these forward, and for his persistence throughout.

The case has never been clearer. TfL routes 215 and 379 reach the southern edge of Waltham Abbey's boundary and turn back, terminating on Sewardstone Road. Routes like the 317 once served Waltham Abbey and Upshire, and now terminate at Waltham Cross Bus Station, about a 30 minute walk from our town centre, and a 60 minute walk from the old 317 terminus at Princesfield Road. All three run every 15 to 30 minutes, seven days a week, from before 6am until gone 1am. Extending them is all it would take.

This is not about tinkering with the commercial routes we already have. More subsidy for another limited minibus service, or a few extra journeys added to an existing timetable, would not fix any of this. The answer is the TfL routes that already run to the edge of our town. Extend them, and Waltham Abbey is once again part of the network our neighbours take for granted.

If you haven't already signed the petition - please do. Every signature makes it harder to ignore.

Thank you, as always for your support.

The Bring Back Red Buses campaign team