Anger at proposed bus changes for Denton

MPs and councillors are banding together to fight against a bus company's decision that would cut off part of Denton from the rest of the borough.

Last week, Stagecoach announced that they were withdrawing the 204, 206 and 207 bus services, to replace them with a single 202 service. The current 205 service will now no longer run to Denton and will terminate in Dane Bank instead.

All changes are set to be implemented from 30 August.

Now, Denton MP Andrew Gwynne has written to stagecoach, urging them to rethink their proposed changes.

He said: “I am very angry and disappointed that Stagecoach once again seem to have put profit before communities. These proposed changes mean worse services for people in Dane Bank, Reddish, Haughton Green and Denton.

“What makes this even worse is that there was no consultation whatsoever on these significant changes. Had they asked, residents would have given a clear message that these are vital services that should not be removed or downgraded.

“I’m joining with local councillors to call on Stagecoach to urgently rethink these changes – particularly the decision to sever the bus link between Dane Bank and Denton town centre, which is absolutely unacceptable.”

He joined Denton West Councillors George Jones, Mike Smith and Brenda Warrington outside shops on Windmill Lane on Friday (31 July) to highlight the effect the change is going to have on local people.

Speaking to the Reporter, councillor George Jones called Stagecoaches decision and called for Greater Manchester to have control over its buses “shameful”.

He said: “I believe the scrapping of the Dane Bank to Denton link on the 205 service is shameful. What Stagecoach are doing is effectively cutting Dane Bank off from it’s town centre which provides our residents with vital services such as supermarkets, doctors / dental surgeries, shops at Crown Point North and access to the sorting office for the collection of post and parcels etc. The current plan would suggest that elderly residents would have to walk from Windermere Avenue / Windmill Lane area (which is predominantly bungalows) all the way to Manchester Road for a link to their own town centre! 

“Some people would argue that if it doesn’t make a cost or if not enough people use it then it should be cut. I say that when the buses were deregulated in the 1980’s by the Margaret Thatcher Government the public were told that the free market would ensure popular parts of a route would cover the costs of the least popular parts and entirely popular services would help cover the costs of less popular services - this doesn’t seem to have happened. In this case, we are talking about a handful of stops that for some residents who don’t have access to a car (which I believe is up to a 1/3 of residents in GM) is vital in order to access important services - not every bus has to be packed for it to serve an important purpose for a community. 

“I’m certainly behind the campaign to regulate our bus network and give the GMCA control over routes, fares, timetables and standards. An important part of regulation would be accountability, being able to hold elected representatives to account for issues on the network, something that you can’t do with the current deregulated system. Now, is the time to accelerate plans like this and start to create that London style transport system!”

Across the town in Denton South, councillors have set up a petition for local people to sign to show the strength of feeling against this change.

Under the new proposals, journey times to Manchester would increase by 22 minutes.

Speaking on behalf of the Denton South Councillors, Cllr George Newton said: “Public transport needs to be affordable and quick to encourage people to get out of their cars – extending journey times and reducing the number of buses is quite obviously not the way to do that!

“This just shows what Stagecoach think of their paying customers in Haughton Green and Denton.”

The petition is available to sign on the Team Denton South website.

Stagecoach countered the claims, saying that their changes will be beneficial for customers.

A Stagecoach spokesperson said: “The new 202 is a simplified service for those living in Denton and Haughton Green which gives our customers a more direct bus into Manchester. The 202 will go straight down Hyde Road and not via Gorton Lane, leading to faster journey times. Buses will also start from earlier in the morning from September giving an improved level of service as we continue to provide practical and affordable transport around the region.”

Both Andrew Gwynne and Stagecoach Greater Manchester sparred on Twitter about the changes. Stagecoach tweeted it was “never an easy decision and its certainly not a decision we take lightly” while Andrew Gwynne criticised that while there was still technically a link between Dane Bank and Denton, it was no longer direct and required changing services. 

Stagecoach GM say that they’ve consulted with Transport for Greater Manchester ahead of the changes, but there there aren’t enough people using the service from Dane Bank to Denton to “support a regular un-supported bus service.”