Consultation on possible changes to routes 206, 224 and PR2

Summary of responses

September 2011

Contents

Section Page 1 Introduction 3 2 The consultation 3 3 Responses from members of the public 5 4 Responses from statutory bodies and other 10 stakeholders

Appendices A Copy of the consultation letter 13 B St Raphael’s Estate letter drop 17

C List of stakeholders consulted 18

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1. Introduction

The bus network is under regular review. Services in and around and have been reviewed and a number of changes are proposed.

• Route 206 would be diverted at Brent Park to and The Paddocks. • Route 224 would be diverted at Station to Brentfield Road and the St Raphael’s Estate. • Route PR2 would be withdrawn.

These proposals were designed to support continued provision of a comprehensive transport network, taking account of current usage and plans for development in the area.

2. The consultation

2.1 About the consultation:

Stakeholder and public consultation on the proposals took place between 11 July and 19 August 2011. The key benefits of the proposals are:

• More frequent service for many users with higher capacity in and around Wembley Park, the St Raphael’s Estate and Brentfield Road. • A more direct link between St Raphael’s and central Park Royal. • Introducing new Sunday services. • Better links to other modes of transport.

Some direct links in the current network would no longer be provided.

TfL asked the following questions:

• What modes of transport do you use? • If you use buses, what are the main reasons for using them? • Please let us know what bus routes you take and how often? • Do you support the proposed changes to route PR2? • Do you support the proposed changes to route 206? • Do you support the proposed changed to route 224? • Do you think you would use public transport more or less if the changes went ahead? • Please let us know any further comments or suggestions you may have regarding these proposals.

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2.2 Who we consulted

The public consultation was intended to seek the views of people who lived near to the proposed route, current users of the service and potential users. We also consulted stakeholders including the Boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Harrow, traffic police, London TravelWatch, Members of Parliament, Assembly Members and local interest groups. A list of the stakeholders we consulted is shown in Appendix C and a summary of their responses is in section 4.

2.3 Consultation material, distribution and publicity

Website Content from the leaflet was displayed on the TfL website, along with an online form allowing users to respond to the questions and submit additional comments.

Bus Stops The consultation was advertised at bus stops along the routes.

Press Advertisements were published in the local press

Letter A letter was distributed to addresses in the St Raphael’s Estate.

People could respond by letter, telephone, textphone, email or web.

Braille, audio and large font versions of the consultation material were available, as was a translation service to other languages.

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3. Responses from members of the public

We asked seven consultation questions and invited respondents to add further comments. There were 573 public responses to the consultation, not all respondents chose to answer all of the questions. 19 responded by post, 548 responded online, four responded via email, and two responded via the TfL Call Centre. Responses are summarised below.

3.1 Public consultation results

Q1. What modes of transport do you use?

600

500

400

300

200

100

0 Bus Train Tube Cycle Walk Car

Q2. If you use buses, what are the main reasons for using them? 450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0 Going to Shopping Social Medical Connect to other work/school/other appointments transport modes education

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Q3. Please let us know what bus routes you take and how often?

200

180

160

140

120 Daily 100 Weekly 80 Monthly

60 Never

40

20

0 PR2 206 223 204

Q4 – 6. Do you support the proposed changes to route PR2/206/224?

450

400

350

300

250 Yes 200 No Does Not Affect Me 150

100

50

0 PR2 206 224

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Q7 Do you think you would use public transport more or less if the changes went ahead?

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0 More Less No Change

Reasons for supporting the scheme:

Reasons given for supporting the change can be seen in the table below:

Reason Total Service will provide better access for users of the Swaminarayan Temple 24 Having two buses running on Sundays and bank holidays will be beneficial 7 Proposals take into account passenger safety 5 Changes will improve the link between and Brentfield Road 4 Good that there is another route around Wembley 3 Routes should not serve St Raphael’s Estate 2

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Reasons for opposing the scheme:

Reasons given for opposing the change can be seen in the table below:

Reason Total Routes should serve St Raphael’s Estate 22 PR2 is the only direct link to Central Middlesex Hospital 18 Proposals will result in an increase in fares 15 Will be difficult for the elderly to get around 10 PR2 should run 7 days a week 9 Hillside will be underserved if PR2 is removed 9 Shouldn’t remove any links through Junction Station 7 Changes are not good for the community 7 Longer journeys for the community 7 206 is a direct link to IKEA 6 Accessibility to the temple will be reduced 3 Routes serve several train/tube stations 2 Employees of nearby industrial estates will be negatively affected 1 TfL cutting services to save money 1

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3.3 Other Suggestions

Some respondents suggested changes to the proposal or took the opportunity to re-iterate their concerns and also comment more widely about the service.

Issue Total There should be a higher frequency of bus services 41 Route(s) should be extended to Kingsbury 12 Waiting times are too high 7 Route(s) should serve 6 Bigger buses should be used 5 Routes should serve The Paddocks 5 24 hour bus service would be beneficial 3 Brentfield Road should be hail and ride 2 Route 206 should have a traditional timetabled schedule (i.e. not a bus will arrive every 10-15 minutes) 1 Bus route 440 should be extended to Wembley Arena 1

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4. Responses from statutory bodies and other stakeholders

TfL had nine responses from Stakeholders and these are summarised below:

The Brent officers stated that the changes represent an improvement in a number of respects. It would also provide links from the south of Brent to the new Civic Centre. A further extension of route 206 northwards to Queensbury was suggested (or route 305 extended southwards from Queensbury). There are concerns that Hillside in Stonebridge would lose its direct link to both Central Middlesex Hospital and Brent Park. Could route 223 be extended to Northwick Park Hospital and Harrow from to allow passengers to make a direct journey?

Councillor Daniel Brown – London Borough of Brent Could route 440 be extended from Stonebridge via Harrow Rd and Brentfield Road to avoid the loss of service from Stonebridge Park/ to Brent Park Tesco’s. Other than that these are reasonable proposals

Caroline Pidgeon – Member Could route 223 be extended to Northwick Park as this will improve access to the local hospital for many people in the Wembley/Sudbury area.

Navin Shah – London Assembly Member The increase in capacity and frequency for passengers in the Wembley area is welcome. It would be beneficial for local residents if the 206 could be extended to terminate at Queensbury Station to give an easier link to Central Middlesex Hospital.

Route 223 is shown on the map along Empire Way instead of Wembley Park Drive. Residents currently use this route as a quick way to get from Preston Road to Wembley Central but the proposed changes will lengthen the journey time. Furthermore, a number of buses already serve Empire Way.

Barry Gardiner – Member of Parliament for Brent North On behalf of the Chairman at BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir Temple, the temple and the devotees are quite supportive of the changes. However, could route 206 be extended to Queensbury Station, or at least at the Kingsbury roundabout. This will benefit devotees as well as residents, who travel to Central Middlesex Hospital and other local amenities.

The London Borough of Ealing LB Ealing officers have no objection to the proposals. If the proposals are implemented, they should be closely monitored and reviewed regularly.

Councillor Zaffar Van Kalwala – London Borough of Brent These changes are an improvement on the present arrangements, particularly with regard to improving links to the borough’s new Civic Centre and surrounding developments. However, there are some reservations.

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The Swaminarayan Temple on Brentfield Road attracts a great number of worshippers and tourists. A significant number live in the north of the borough (Kingsbury area). The temple is also a ‘London Landmark’ for the London 2012 Olympics. Could route 206 be further extended to terminate at ideally Queensbury Station or the Kingsbury roundabout. Or could route 305 be extended from its present terminus at Kingsbury Circle to Central Middlesex Hospital, along Fryent Way and The Paddocks, Wembley Park, Great Central Way and Brentfield Road.

North West London Hospitals Trust – NHS The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust is responsible for Central Middlesex and Northwick Park Hospitals and encourages staff, patients and visitors to use public transport, cycling, walking and car sharing whenever possible. Central Middlesex Hospital is almost entirely dependent on bus services for public transport access. The nearest tube/overground station at Harlesden is 15 minutes’ walk away through surroundings widely regarded as unfriendly to pedestrians. It is, therefore, a matter of concern that TfL proposes to reduce the bus service by withdrawing route PR2 without any enhancement to other routes serving the hospital.

It is recognised that the diversion of route 224 at Harlesden Station to serve part of the route currently covered by route PR2 will give increased frequency between the hospital and St Raphael’s Estate, and also provide a Sunday service. However, there is:

• loss of direct links to Hillside and Wembley Park • reduced frequency to Stonebridge Park Station and • reduced frequency to Harlesden/Willesden Junction Stations.

There will be a 5% reduction in the total frequency of all buses serving the hospital, but a reduction of 33% between the hospital and Stonebridge Park Station and 20% between the hospital and the . The reduced frequency between the hospital and Harlesden/Willesden Junction Stations is less significant, as this corridor is already well served by buses (but several of the routes are subject to regular disruption because they pass through areas of dense traffic).

The loss of the direct link to Wembley Park Station removes an option for travelling between the Trust’s two hospitals. Could TfL provide a direct link between the two hospitals?

The Trust supports the Fastbus idea to improve access between Central Middlesex Hospital and tube and rail lines and to address the current problem of a uni-directional link between the hospital and Station, which has three southbound and no northbound routes.

Park Royal Partnership The Park Royal Partnership participated in a review group convened by Network Development on bus routes in the area in 2009-10. They stated that whilst appreciating that changes are necessary, and that there was a thorough review of existing services before the proposals were made, a number of Park Royal member companies expressed their concern that the effect of the changes is likely to be generally negative in the area covered by the Park Royal estate, with the possible exception of the change to 11

route 224. They said they would therefore welcome the opportunity to review the effect of the changes after 15 October when they are implemented

They consider the Stakeholder Engagement letter as a notification of intended action rather than a further consultation. They considered that it now appears too late to make substantive changes to the proposals.

They considered the proposal simplifies the route network but fails to provide any frequency or capacity increases on the remaining routes which serve Park Royal. They stated that the level of service to the estate will be reduced by the withdrawal of route PR2 and that the loss of two journeys per hour for most of the day on Abbey Road would reduce the attractiveness of bus travel along the main route into the estate from the north, and even more so between Central Park Royal and Stonebridge Park Station where a one third reduction in frequency will occur. They are disappointed that no compensating routes or frequencies will be added in Park Royal to cover the loss of route PR2. They consider this will affect businesses in Park Royal, as well as the Central Middlesex Hospital which is heavily reliant on bus services for access by staff, visitors and outpatients.

They consider that the withdrawal of the route between Harlesden Station and Hillside will leave a gap which diminishes the Park Royal bus network and reduce its appeal to passengers and that key links will be lost between Hillside and Abbey Road and between Central Park Royal, Brent Park and Wembley Park Station, whilst no new links are created. Lack of any frequency increases on remaining routes means that bus passengers in Park Royal will get no benefit from the proposed changes. The change in route pattern will require more passengers to change buses at Harlesden station, require payment of an additional fare and affect those on low incomes, particularly the residents of Stonebridge ward.

Extending routes 206 and 224 would affect their reliability unless measures are taken to make the service more robust. They consider that the current proposals are likely to have a negative impact, and do little to encourage growth in the use of public transport in Park Royal.

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Appendix A – Consultation Letter

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Appendix B – St Raphael’s Estate letter drop

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Appendix C – List of stakeholders consulted

Elected Members Angie Bray MP Barry Gardiner MP MP Gareth Thomas MP Glenda Jackson MP John McDonnell MP John Randall MP Nick Hurd MP Sarah Teather MP Stephen Pound MP Virendra Sharma MP AM Darren Johnson AM Dee Doocey AM AM Jenny Jones AM Mike Tuffrey AM Murad Qureshi AM AM AM Richard Barnbrook AM Richard Barnes AM Victoria Borwick AM

Local Authorities London Borough of Brent London Borough of Ealing

Other Stakeholders London TravelWatch London Councils BAA Heathrow British Airways CBI North West London Chamber of Commerce Park Royal Partnership Ltd The Royal Parks

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Police and Health Services Mount Vernon Hospital West London Mental Health NHS Trust North West London Hospitals NHS Trust NHS London Strategic Health Authority Metropolitan Police

Community Swaminarayan Mandir Temple Ealing Passenger Transport Users' Group Medway Estate Residents' Forum Norwood Green Residents' Association Southall Transport Action Group (STAG) SWELTRAC West Twyford Residents' Association Asian Womens Welfare Association St Raphael’s Community Centre Ark Academy Vernon House School Manor School Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School St Christopher's School Brentfield Primary School The Swaminarayan School The Welsh School, London Stonebridge Centre Fawood Children's Centre Harvest Church Brent Town Hall Library

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