Consultation on Bus Cuts – where was it?

Bus services in and around Whitchurch are being cut, re-routed and changed.

Stagecoach are to introduce new bus timetables that affect Whitchurch – and they are doing so with just a few weeks notice, no consultation and minimal communication. They come into effect on the 30th August.

They have announced reductions in service, changes to times and alterations to routes - all of which will affect local people in Whitchurch, some to the extent that they may even lose their jobs. The hardest hit will be those who rely on the service 86 to and from Winchester which is being drastically cut. As well as being reduced to a two-hourly service, those at the start and end of the day are being completely cut out.

So what went wrong?
Some might say that as a commercial operator they can do as they wish, but they do have to register their routes and timetables with the transport authority, and that is Hampshire County Council. So did HCC then inform or consult with local people before agreeing the changes?
By now you may have guessed that the answer seems to be very much a 'No'.

Don't the users matter?
Local residents, Town Councillors and even the Borough Councillor were all kept in the dark. No one seems to have told the actual bus users anything; was sharing of information restricted solely to the passing of papers across some desks between Stagecoach and the County officers?

Was support considered?
The cuts to the service to Winchester will be putting jobs at risk while re-timings and re-routing means  journeys being disrupted or no longer possible.
Did the County, who are responsible for supporting services that are socially necessary, consider people's livelihoods? Did they assess whether this service should receive financial support?
Did they?

No hint of bus cuts
Certainly when the County Councillor for Whitchurch made his report to the Town Council in early July there was no hint of the drastic changes to come - zero - zilch - nowt. Was he unaware too? Or were the decisions so much a fait accompli that any consultation was deemed a waste of time? The question must be asked - "Why were we not told?" and also followed with "How can local people be involved in consultations over the services they use?" 

It seems the system may be broken. There needs to be communication with users and their elected representatives. We have been let down badly. How can this be redeemed?
This failure must not happen again and a robust process needs to be put in place that enables local input into such important decisions.

But meanwhile how are those who rely on the buses to Winchester to make their journeys?
Can our County Council give an answer?

It brought people together

After years in planning, Whitchurch finally has its Memorial to WWI, as a result of collaboration between the Town Council, the Silk Mill and many other groups and individuals.

'Sowings for new Spring'

Whether you like the end result or not, you cannot fail to have some feelings about it. The result of a 'competition' the 'winning' design is one that will have everyone talking, debating and remembering and to me, that is what really made this project.

A memorial for the town
Led by an inspired team, organised by Claire Isbester and assisted by a great many others, a brief was created in order to create a "serious and monumental memorial of the 1914–18 war" – the war to end all wars.
Whitchurch now has that Memorial and it was unveiled at the Town Hall by Lady Portal, Sheriff of Hampshire on Saturday 4th July 2015.
Designed by Rhiannon Williams, this impressive 2.4 x 2.0 metre piece of textile art is now on public display in the office of the Town Hall.
It could have been a statue, a plaque, a sculpture but this is arguably far more interesting.

Click the picture to enlarge it  > > >

A mass of memories
But it was all the stories, recollections, conversations and memories that are really the core of this interpretation. When people met in the Silk Mill early in 2014, it became such a poignant day. I meant to stay an hour but remained all day. One proud local resident's words stuck in my mind "These are the medals of my grandfather". This was being shared so that the ribbon colours could provide inspiration and become part of our town's history. Stories were told that recalled many of the human emotions of the time, even though it was a period over which many kept quiet about the reality of their dreadful experiences.

Talking and sharing
My own grandfather lied about his age so he could go to war – but I know little more about his experiences – he never spoke of them, but I know he was proud to have served his country – opening up and sharing emotions is sometimes hard. This project has not just recorded historic facts – it has also allowed some to talk of their memories and maybe remove some of those demons of silence. Talking and sharing also heals.

More than just textile art
Yes there were many speeches at the official unveiling, but we must not just see this as a piece of textile art, but something that has brought people together and allowed many to express their deep and heartfelt emotions and feelings over memories, often of lost relatives at such a horrific part of our country's history.

The importance
Call into the Town Hall office during normal opening hours and look, admire, and contemplate – what is the most important aspect of the design; of the project?
Is it the dog's eyes, the patchwork, the soldiers hat, the use of silk from the mill, the forget-me-nots? Or is it a recognition of the strength and importance of local people talking, sharing, opening up and supporting each other; something that can never be placed inside a display case?
Everyone will have different views, but to me it is that human interaction.

1914

War broke: and now the Winter of the world
With perishing great darkness closes in.
The foul tornado, centred at Berlin,
Is over all the width of Europe whirled,
Rending the sails of progress. Rent or furled
Are all Art’s ensigns. Verse wails. Now begin
Famines of thought and feeling. Love’s wine’s thin.
The grain of human Autumn rots, down-hurled.
For after Spring had bloomed in early Greece,
And Summer blazed her glory out with Rome,
An Autumn softly fell, a harvest home,
A slow grand age, and rich with all increase.
But now, for us, wild Winter, and the need
Of sowings for new Spring, and blood for seed.

Wilfred Owen (1893 – 1918)