Bordon on the Border [3]

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fbb came across this little snippet (on the second reading!) in the current issue of Rail magazine.

If they are snipping 100 metres off each platform, how big must they have been before! And the CAF trams must be really hu-u-u-uge!!

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So what is an Eco-town?

Eco-towns are a government-sponsored programme of new towns to be built in England, which are intended to achieve exemplary standards of sustainability.In 2007, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) announced a competition to build up to 10 eco-towns. The proposals received support from organisations such as the Town and Country Planning Association but have also attracted controversy and scepticism.

We are local people who think the Government is wrong to want an eco-town here, and the Council is wrong with their plan to double the population of our town. While they make promises they can’t deliver, they do everything possible to conceal the real impact of their plan- a lot more houses, a lot more traffic, a lot of damage to the natural environment and surrounding settlements, and a few more shops and “facilities.” We think the price of these facilites is far too high,

 Once of the concerns is the poor quality of public transport; hence the possible fanciful scheme for the rail link to Bentley as revealed in yesterday's blog (read again).

As eventual successors to Aldershot and District, Stagecoach have been operating two main routes through the town, each every hour.

The 13 runs from Liphook (Mondays to Fridays only) the via Whitehill and Bordon continuing to Basingstoke.

The extension to Liphook is a rather half-hearted replacement for ...

... the ultimately unsuccessful Rail Link bus, also a Stagecoach initiative.

It was withdrawn in 2009 amidst vociferous local protest.

We the undersigned petition South West Trains to save the Bordon to Liphook Rail Link Bus. We condemn totally SW Trains appalling decision to unilaterally withdraw the service on May 17th. This is being done without any public consultation. It will affect Whitehill-Bordon, Liphook and villages in between. Whitehill-Bordon has the worst Accessibility in the whole of Hampshire. We have had wave upon wave of bus cuts from Hampshire County Council and now this. The axing of this link will result in more more traffic, carbon emissions and parking congestion at Liphook station.

A replacement peak hour shuttle, numbered 12, was run for a short time by AMK Travel.

East Hampshire District Council, which has been subsidising the bus since last summer, confirmed that the number 12 will be withdrawn from service on Saturday, June 5 2010.

The only other "proper" route via Bordon is the 18 ...

... which does a loop via Bordon centre en route from Aldershot to Haslemere. The only Sunday bus to the Eco-town  is a two hourly "short working" of the 18.

For the record, service 73 on the map above is a selection of shoppers oddments to Petersfield whilst the 737 is used for a very few Alton College trips.

Those who are opposed to the concept of the Eco-town are right to be suspicious; without improved public transport the idea of reducing car use, cutting nasty emissions and being a greener Eco-environment is, simply, a non starter.

But Eco-greenish things are beginning to happen, as we shall see tomorrow.

 Next Bus Blog : Friday 10th May