City Council shuttle bus for Kingswells

Aberdeen Councillors have agreed to safeguard a bus service for the Kingswells community.

Members of the Finance, Policy and Resources committee decided to amend the Crematorium Bus Service 94 to provide a shuttle service connecting Kingswells Village with Kingswells Park and Ride and on to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

The decision follows the announcement by First Bus last year to no longer provide the X40 and 11 bus services from the 1st April.

Aberdeen City Council Finance, Policy and Resources Committee Convener Councillor Willie Young said: “The decision by First Aberdeen to withdraw these services due to cost pressures would in effect have left a community isolated.

“Our decision today will allow a shuttle service which, while limited as a replacement, will offer a lifeline to the community.

“I would like to thank those members of the Kingswells community who spoke of their concerns to the committee and hope that our decision will provide some comfort until a long-term solution which provides a more adequate service can be found.”

Members of the committee also instructed officers to continue to investigate options for providing bus services in Kingswells and a report will be brought to the appropriate committee with an update or seeking approval for a new service provision.

But local councillor Steve Delaney said residents of Kingswells were being sold out: “Although I accept that the use of the service 94 is the only option open to us to bridge the gap over the next few weeks, given the tight timescales, it does not offer a usable solution beyond that of the next few weeks.

“The outline timetable will not help people who start work early or finish late, whether they are travelling from Kingswells or indeed working in Kingswells businesses including Kingswells School, Kingsmead Nursing Home, Great Western Nursery and others. In addition, having to change buses at ARI will create timing difficulties for others en route to work”. That’s not to mention the difficulties people will experience socialising and going about their everyday lives.

“The daytime services proposed are very limited indeed, with 60-75 minutes between services, which will impact upon people’s ability to get to medical appointments and the proposed route will not service a number of local facilities within Kingswells”.

“Aberdeen City Council has failed to deliver. Kingswells deserves better than this. I’m absolutely appalled at the total disregard of the facts on the ground presented to committee by local people. The decision was to put this service in place for 12 months and with no additional finance at its back, any prospect of an improved service being brought in sooner must surely be very remote.

“This decision is an absolute disgrace. I’m certainly not finished with this yet and I will seek to overturn this decision and deliver a usable and sustainable service for Kingswells at the very earliest opportunity.”