Durham County Council spends £5,000 on bus stop that's no longer on a bus route (From The Northern Echo)

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Taxpayers' anger as council spends £5,000 on bus stop that's no longer on a bus route

8:00am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Durham City News Photograph of the Author Exclusive By Mark Tallentire

The shelter at the centre of the row

A NORTH-EAST council that is facing cuts of nearly £190m spent thousands of pounds on a bus shelter – only to discover that it isn’t on a bus route.

Labour-led Durham County Council last night blamed a mix-up in communication for the £5,180 spent on the shelter, near the Salutation pub, in Framwellgate Moor, Durham, when there hadn’t been a bus service there for years.

Some bus drivers will do anything to get their passengers home. Watch as this bus climbs a frozen hill in Saltburn.

The local authority, which is axing services, closing leisure centres and cutting jobs to meet a 40 per cent spending cut between 2010 and 2017, said it had checked with bus company Arriva before the work started.

But when it was finished, the firm said services had been withdrawn.

Valerie Richardson, a Framwellgate Moor resident, said: “How kind of Durham County Council to replace the old brick bus stop... with a nice bright glass one complete with rubbish bin and timetable board. The only problem is the bus stop has not been used for more than two years.

“The council continues to waste money while telling us they need to make savings.

Who does their research?”

Colin Hillary, chairman of Framwellgate Moor Community Association, said: “While our community centre is under threat, it seems a shame that they are not coordinating their works a little better to put money where it would be usefully spent – rather than this apparent waste of money.”

The scheme cost taxpayers £1,800 to demolish the old shelter and £2,800 to build a replacement.

It will cost £580 to move the shelter to another location.

Adrian White, Durham County Council’s head of transport, appeared to blame bus operator Arriva for the error.

He said: “The county council looks after the highways and bus stops, which includes bus shelters; but we do not operate bus services.

“Therefore, before we do any work on bus stops, we always check with the bus companies regarding their operational services.

“The work on the shelter was carried out after consultations with Arriva who, on two separate occasions, confirmed that their bus services would be using the stop.

“Unfortunately, they have subsequently informed the council that they are now not planning to operate services on this route. We will be looking to relocate the shelter in the near future.”

Arriva suggested the mistake had been a misunderstanding.

Nigel Featham, managing director for Arriva North East, said: “We work very closely with Durham County Council in order to help improve overall bus services and facilities for passengers.

“In seems in this instance, there may have been a misunderstanding, as Arriva North East has not used this stop for some time.”

The work was part of a countywide programme to improve public transport, under which nearly 100 old brick bus shelters are being replaced with modern facilities.

Comments(23)

jack114 says...
8:32am Tue 14 Feb 12

What annoys me most is that DCC are making excuses and trying to blame other people for their lackadaisical attitude with our money !!!!