Hampton-in-Arden Parish Council Newsletter
April 2013
Local Transport Survey
Recently CENTRO carried out a consultationconcerning bus services in South Solihull. Most services in this area are not commercially viableandare contracted to operatewith public subsidy from CENTRO. Contracts for existing services end this Summeroffering opportunity to review the current network. Overall there were 655 responses to the consultation, previous comments and results of customer satisfaction surveys werealso used. Passenger numbers and flow were quantified to assess usage of existing services. 83% of Hampton respondents gave Solihull Town Centre as their most important destination, 13% Solihull Rail Station, 4% Coventry. 63% said they would prefer 'a more frequent bus service even if it is less direct' 37% that said they would prefer 'a less frequent but quicker service' Respondents were not particularly concerned about quality of the buses, there was preference for more daytime, weekday services rather than evening or weekend.Specific comments from Hampton expressed concern at inadequate capacity on the 82 requesting a more frequent service, an evening service, and four requests for a direct link to Knowle.CENTRO propose a new service, 88, from Solihull Rail Station through Knowle and Chadwick End to Balsall Common. The 82 will become the 88 at Solihull Train Station so it will be possible to travel from Hampton to Knowle or Balsall Common without alighting from the bus,the journey time will be about 30 minutes. It is proposed to replace the former 82A journeys with additional services over the full route at peak times. The Heart of England Taxi bus service will remain unchanged.The public cancomment on these proposals toandrewharding@centro.org.uk or Market research, Centro House, 16 Summer Lane, B19 3SD. The time schedule is tight as the new services are to be registered in April. The parish council will be expressing disappointment that a more direct service to Knowle is not proposed.
Update on Heavy Goods Traffic
Several weeks ago SMBC carried out a 12 hour survey of heavy goods traffic passing through the village. 100 heavy vehicles were counted which was 1.7% of total traffic, the accepted norm if 2%. There is to be a meeting with the quarry operators in Meriden to explore a way of reducing heavy traffic and we are working with highways safety officers and police to make the village roads safer.
HIGH Speed 2
At the Community Forum in Marchsome detailed engineering drawings were released. It is becoming increasingly clear that this is a massive engineering project which will result in years of major disturbance during construction. Our village will be sandwiched between 2 accommodation and construction site, 50 acreseast of the A452 on the way to Balsall Common, a very large area of land for the Interchange Station north of the A45 and a somewhat smaller site 400m south ofDiddington Hall. The Environmental Impact Assessment is due to be released in 'spring' and the Fentham Hall has been provisionally booked for a road show on 28th May. Please put the date in your diary so that you can see exactly what is involved and make your voice heard.
Back issues of our Newsletter
Back issues for 2013 are available to download here. For previous years go to the Archive page.
