New bus service set for Bas Vegas (From Echo)

New bus service set for Bas Vegas

9:00am Friday 13th January 2012 in News By Jon Austin

EVENING buses will finally run to and from Festival Leisure Park, after years of false starts. Essex County Council has put forward £50,000 to subsidise a new hourly service to the park between 7pm and midnight, Monday to Saturday. The new 236 service, operated by NIBs, will run from either Basildon Hospital or the bus station to Wickford station, stopping at the leisure park each way, starts on March 5. John Schofield, county councillor for Westley Heights, announced the news at the Basildon Bus Forum in the Basildon Centre last night. He said months of lobbying at County Hall had now paid off. He added: “This is excellent news and means users of the leisure park can now get a bus from there to Basildon or Wickford, well into the evening.” The bus service is being subsided by County Hall, but could be self funding if it gets enough users. He added: “I hope we can extend it to every 20 minutes and have it running for more than a year, but we will need to secure more finance, unless it becomes commercially viable. “It is a step in the right direction though, as this is something we have been repeatedly told people want.” Steve Nelson, managing director of NIBs, added: “We are aware the Festival Leisure Park is used mostly in the evening, so that is when most people need a service. “We are happy to provide this. We truly hope enough people use it so it can become commercially viable and continue.” It comes more than two years after County Hall spent £750,000 on a dedicated bus and taxi lane from Ghyllgrove into Cranes Farm Road. This was to specifically create a direct route between the leisure park and town centre to allow for more bus services and late-night timetables. Since the creation of the route, also used by taxis and emergency services, there have only been occasional stops during the day. The 237, also run by NIBS, does not stop at the complex until 9.44am, Monday to Saturday, which is too late for many people who work there. The latest bus stops at the leisure park at 6.31pm on weekdays and 5.31pm on Saturdays, which is too early for many people who want to eat, go for adrink or visit a nightclub. Residents said they were happy with the new route. Chris Ballard, 51, of Mellow Purgess, Laindon, said: “This is a good idea. There’s been hardly any transport from the town centre to Festival Leisure Park. “Lots of people would use the buses because of the restaurants and entertainment. “I had to walk here from Laindon rather than take a taxi. It will be cheaper by bus.” Julia Smith, 51, of St Paul’s Gardens, Billericay, said: “My 17-year-old son goes to the leisure park all the time for the cinema and bowling alley and I know he would be keen to use the buses.”