Yoyo-ing council services not good enough.

The city council have decided to cancel the weekend evening bus service to Wheldrake, Thorganby and villages on the Holme on Spalding Moor, despite having confirmed on Monday that the service would go ahead. 

‘On Monday officers confirmed that 23:00 no18 bus service from York to villages through Wheldrake and Thorganby all the way to Holme-on-Spalding-Moor would be going ahead,’ says Cllr Vassie. ‘Then on Thursday Officers changed their tune and said the buses won’t be running because they are “non-essential journeys”. 

‘It is outrageous and self-defeating,’ says Christian Vassie, city councillor for Wheldrake Ward. ‘Why should public money subsidise bus services in the city but not those in rural wards?’ 

The problems have arisen as a result of roadworks carried out on Church Lane in Wheldrake. 

Cllr Vassie explains that the city council no longer consults with city councillors or with parish councils on a range of issues. 

‘Until I complained, on behalf of local residents, the village of Wheldrake was due to have Church Lane blocked off for roadworks associated with a development on 8th July. This would have seen school buses cancelled and hundreds of children unable to get to school. 

Cllr Vassie said he was not informed about this and had to jump up and down to get the council to require the developers to delay their roadworks. 

The date was eventually pushed back to start on 19th July instead of 8th July, but the problems did not end there. Again, the council failed to engage with anyone on the issue of green bin and recycling collections. 

’All I received from council officers, when I asked about how recycling would be collected while the road was closed, was an email from officers informing me that they were exploring the options,’ says Vassie. ‘Residents were understandably frustrated and annoyed.’ 

Worse was to come regarding the bus services.

‘I have repeatedly asked officers and the administration to ensure that the weekend evening bus services are put on,’ says Vassie. ‘They are hugely popular and well-used. The administration is forever complaining about the number of residents driving cars instead of using public transport but nothing is done to improve bus services. 

“Now even the bus services we do have are cancelled by the administration on the basis that they are ‘non-essential’. Apparently on Friday and Saturday nights the administration believes the city needs more cars on the roads not fewer. Trying to make sense of all this is like watching a yoyo bounce up and down.’