Petition - Save the Brighton Hill Number 12 bus

Thank you for your letter, received 18 October 2018, and the attached petition regarding bus 12 which links Hatch Warren, Kempshott Park, Brighton Hill, Black Dam and Basingstoke town centre which was drawn to my attention.

Hampshire County Council has had the aim since 2011 that any community with a passenger transport service would retain an essential transport link. Sometimes the number of days the service operates, or the number of journeys provided has to be reduced to stay within the budget available. The latest passenger transport review had to achieve savings of £1.1 million. Extensive consultation was carried out and residents told us that they would rather retain a bus service than a bookable service and if a choice had to be made, they would rather a service ran fewer journeys but ran on as many days as possible. This is reflected in the new timetable to be provided for the number 12.

Having worked closely with the bus operator and looked in detail at how each journey is used, I am pleased to advise that I have approved the attached timetable for the number 12 which retains a Monday to Saturday service between Brighton Hill, Hatch Warren and the bus station. This offers a quicker journey to the town centre as Black Dam has its own service the new 17. 

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the petition.

Yours sincerely

Cllr R Humby
Executive Member for Environment and Transport