‘Nearly all of us have mobility issues. It’s really difficult getting about. Now it’s becoming darker and colder’
Humber View is no longer serviced by the number 16 or number 20 bus(Image: Google)
Elderly residents at a retirement community in Hull’s Victoria Docks are feeling stranded after their nearest bus service ground to a halt earlier this month. Residents at Humber View on Hull’s docklands, a complex of rented apartments designed for the elderly, were only informed at the beginning of this month that the numbers 16 and 20 buses would no longer serve their area. They say they were told by bus drivers days before the service changed routes at the beginning of September and now feel “stranded”.
Humber View resident Janet Mason said the lack of connection to Hull City Centre is starting to affect residents’ mental health. “You can’t nip out anywhere, you can’t meet friends, and relatives can’t come if they don’t drive,” she said. Janet moved to the complex just over a year ago from Sutton Road after the passing of her husband. She said the nearby bus stop and easy access to Hull’s Interchange was a major factor in her decision to move to Humber View, which she describes as “absolutely beautiful”.
“It’s playing on our minds. A couple of the ladies were crying, bless them. People will help, but we don’t want to be people’s responsibility.” She said of the 35 flats in the complex, only three residents are still able to drive. At 70, Janet describes herself as “one of the younger ones”. “One of the reasons I moved here is because the bus stop was out the door. Nearly all of us have mobility issues. It’s really difficult getting about. Now it’s becoming darker and colder. I don’t know what they’ll do in wintertime. They’ll all be starving.”
Stagecoach announced a series of changes to its services at the end of August, taking effect from Sunday, September 6 which it promised would deliver “new routes”. However, both the 16 bus and the 20 routes were amended so that they no longer stop near Humber View.
The announcements by Stagecoach described “major benefits” by a “redesigned service 16”. It said: “Residents in Greatfield and Preston Road will see major benefits from a redesigned Service 16, which will no longer operate via the Old Town and Victoria Dock. Instead, it will provide a brand-new direct route every 30 minutes between Hull Interchange Preston Road and Greatfield via Drypool Bridge, Ellis Street, Newbridge Road, and Southcoates Lane. The changes will also boost services for Annandale Road and Wingfield Road. Together, Services 14 and 16 will provide up to four buses an hour during the daytime, giving customers more choice and shorter waits when travelling to and from the city centre.”
It went on to detail changes for the number 20, which also used to pass by The Deep, which is next to Humber View. “The Park and Ride Service 20 will also be revised, creating more direct links between Priory Park and key city centre destinations. The service will operate via St Stephen’s, Prospect Street, Albion Street, Bond Street, Queens Dock Avenue and Carr Lane, improving access to St Stephen’s Shopping Centre, the Hull and East Riding Community Diagnostic Centre, Princes Quay and the wider city centre. As part of the changes, the Park and Ride will no longer serve the Old Town or The Deep.”
Janet said some residents are mobile enough to walk to get their shopping, but “if they do manage to walk anywhere, they can’t carry it back”. “To get pensions out we have to go to the bank,” she said. “When you get to a certain age you don’t like to put the card into the machine.” Janet says a taxi to the local hospitals costs around £20.
The complex is visited three times a week by a communal bus. It leaves Humber View at 9.30am, visiting the ASDA at Mount Pleasant on Holderness Road, before returning at 12.30pm, which often leaves the elderly residents “hanging around”.
Janet said: “It only takes them to ASDA, so they are being told where they can and cannot shop. It comes back at half past 12, so they are hanging about until then. One of the ladies has issues about her bank and she panics until she can get to the bank. We all tell her it’s fine, but she says ‘no I need to go and check it now’. One day, she got the bus at 9.30am, got off, went into town from Holderness Road, then got the bus back to ASDA to get the community bus back home. She was panicking about getting the bus.
“We’ve got bus passes we can’t even use. We got told and that was it. By the time we started doing anything about it, it had already happened. The Community Bus is not solving anybody’s problems. We are all of an age, and what right does somebody have to tell us when to go out?”
Cllr Diana Hatcher, ward councillor for Drypool Ward, said: “We as local councillors are not happy with the withdrawal of this bus service to Victoria Dock which used to serve the residents of Humber View. We were only notified just before the service was withdrawn.
“We have had queries from several residents, all of which we have replied to and we are to have a meeting at Humber View next week with the residents, council officers, and local councillors to discuss the changes to the bus timetable and hear the resident’s concerns. This was the earliest date we could find for everyone to attend. We have also written to Mayor Luke Cambell asking him to reverse this decision along with service to some and await a reply.”
Stagecoach was contacted for comment.
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