Councillors in online spat over bus cuts
3:34pm Wednesday 13th August 2008
Comments (2)AN ONLINE political slanging match has erupted as councillors continue to argue about cuts to bus services.
Recent changes to the Arriva routes in the north of Darlington have left two whole housing estates without a service. Residents have complained of long walks to their nearest bus stop after changes to the number 23 and 26 services.
Earlier this week, Conservative opposition councillors Mike and Gill Cartwright called for the Labour-led Darlington Borough Council to "put its hand in its pockets" to help bring back the routes.
But cabinet member Coun Nick Wallis hit back on his personal website, accusing the Cartwrights of courting publicity, and blasting the Tories for asking the council to subsidise a private business.
"Rushing in with local state subsidies would send a distinctly dubious message to the likes of Arriva", wrote Coun Wallis, the former cabinet member for transport, who is now the portfolio holder for the environment.
"By all means, Arriva, slash bus routes around the town on the basis that they're not commercial - the council will step in to replace them.
"We'd soon get the reputation of being a soft touch.
"Better by far to apply pressure on Arriva to reinstate these routes on a commercial basis, at nil cost to council tax payers.
"That's the approach which the Labour council and our local MP Alan Milburn have adopted.
"The Tories are fast becoming the party with apparently limitless cash to fund their pet projects. Traditional opposition tactics, to be sure, but not ones that in the long-run inspire confidence amongst the public."
Within hours, Coun Gill Cartwright had hit back, describing Coun Wallis as "naive" on her own website.
"It is a bit naive to even suggest that Arriva (commercial organisation) is going to put services into these areas out of the goodness of their hearts," she wrote.
"It is a bit funny to find a Labour councillor giving advice on how to inspire long-run confidence amongst the public given the current state of affairs with the country and the lack of confidence within the Labour Party in its leader.
"If you don't mind, I might just continue to do what I was elected to do and represent the people."
Coun Wallis's blog can be viewed at www.darlingtoncouncillor.blogspot.com, and Coun Cartwright's homepage is at www.harrowgatehillfuture.co.uk.
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Gill Cartwright, Harrowgate Hill, Darlington says...
10:22pm Wed 13 Aug 08
Via his blog, he has accused us of "courting publicity" and blasts us for simply requesting that the council at least investigate alternatives to simply scrapping the bus routes in the ward.
Perhaps Cllr Wallis has a short memory and needs reminding that the report issued to the Labour 'Cabinet' back in April noted that five areas of the town would be adversely affected by the commercial decision by Arriva, to change the bus routes. A recommendation was made in the report that the council should consider subsidising routes to service these affected areas. The fact that the 5 wards would be so adversely affected by Arriva’s decision seems to have escaped the hapless Cllr Wallis and indeed his colleagues, otherwise one would assume they would have addressed this issue earlier with council officers, Arriva and indeed our ever absent town Labour MP Alan Milburn.
The biggest question for us, is given that Wallis and his colleagues where aware of Arriva’s plans to change the routes, why did they simply "note" the changes and not challenge the decision. Surely that would have been the sensible, proactive action of a responsible controlling group. But as usual, as with the "free pensioner travel before 9.30am" debacle, they respond with too little too late. Only now do they decide to challenge Arriva and indeed lobby MP (Missing Person?) Alan Milburn, after a public outcry.
In the meantime, whilst the Labour group once again attempt to deflect blame for this bad decision, the residents of Harrowgate Hill and indeed the other 4 wards in the town continue to suffer. We would suggest that Cllr Wallis and his colleagues spend more time helping the residents of Darlington as opposed to trying to cover up bad decisions by attacking opposition Councillors.
Surely this is another fine example of the "listening Council", suffering from deafness.
Cllrs Gill & Mike Cartwright