Ward Forum is direct route to improved bus service

A group of bus service users and Community Council representatives in The Highland Council’s Tain and Easter Ross Ward met recently (2nd September) with Stagecoach and Council officials to work together on suggestions to improve the bus service in the area.

The need for some changes to improve the bus service was highlighted at the June Ward Forum in Balintore.  It was agreed that the best route forward would be for Community Councils to collect views from bus service users in their area and to meet with Stagecoach to discuss suggestions for improvements.

William Mainus, Commercial Manager for Stagecoach, said the meeting was very constructive and helped him gain a local perspective from service users. He said: We worked through various suggestions from users on the timetable and I’ll be going back to the group in November to tell them how we hope to accommodate their suggestions to improve the service in the future.”

There was also a call for an early service to Inverness from the Seaboard villages which will be looked at by the group through a survey in the local Seaboard Newsletter to measure interest and gauge if it would be sustainable.
 
The Highland Council manages over 200 bus contracts delivering public and school transport throughout the Highlands of which Stagecoach is the main contractor in the Tain and Easter Ross Ward.

Ward Forums are held in every Council Ward to allow the public to scrutinise Council service delivery.  Every Community Council in the Tain and Easter Ross Ward and other representative community organisations are members of the Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum and have the opportunity to feed the views of their community into the subjects being discussed.

For further information on future Ward Forums and how to take part visit the Highland Council website at http://www.www.highland.gov.uk/. For further information on the Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum contact: Carol Elliot, Ward Manager, Tain Service Point, 24 High Street, Tain tel: 01349 886643 / 01349 877408.