FOLLOWING a concerned email from a Church Hill schoolgirl, Redditch MP Karen Lumley hosted a meeting with Diamond bus bosses and a Worcestershire County Council representative on Friday (March 4).
Mrs Lumley invited Diamond Bus operations director Chris Blyth and County Councillor John Smith (Cons, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways) to join her and Conservative group leader Councillor Juliet Brunner in a discussion after receiving an email from 13-year-old Aimee Bates.
Unfortunately Aimee could not attend the meeting due to her school commitments but the group discussed Diamond’s progress on improving bus services throughout the town and feedback received from residents.
Also on the agenda was plans to arrange a site meeting outside Church Hill Middle School to examine Aimee’s concerns and investigate the possibility of introducing safety measures.
Mr Blyth said Diamond has tried ‘extremely hard’ to address the views of customers over the last few months and agreed a bus surgery would be held in the near future to involve the public.
He added: “Once you find yourself in a spiral of negative press, it is hard to climb out.
“But I am sure passengers will have noticed the new vehicles that represent a significant investment by Diamond Bus.”
Mr Blyth added the £1m investment reduces the average fleet age to six years and that the company is now receiving some ‘very positive feedback’ from customers which is ‘pleasing’.
The operations director said Diamond is also on the lookout for more Redditch-based drivers and a DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) inspection of the fleet found Diamond’s engineering standards to be satisfactory.
Mrs Lumley said: “The purpose of the meeting as for Diamond to be able to allay fears about the service and to be able to show that they have put in place procedures that will enable an efficient and safe bus service going forward.”
The town’s MP added she is ‘satisfied’ a lot of effort is being put in by Diamond to give the town the service it deserves and urges all residents to come to the bus surgery when a date is set.
Visit https://twitter.com/diamondbuses or https://www.facebook.com/diamondbuses/?fref=ts to register an urgent concern about a bus service run by Diamond.
