Climate and nature hustings, Melksham and Devizes, 26th June 2024

[whole diary]

[grahame]

I am helping organise these hustings and I'm sure that a least one transport question will come up ...



data page at http://www.melkshamenvironmentgroup.org.uk/hustings.html

Our venue is within walking and cycling distance of most of Melksham, and is timed to allow many of you to return home afterwards on nearby public transport:
   20:17 bus (273) to Bowerhill, Sells Green and Devizes
   20:21 train to Chippenham (change for 55 bus to Calne)
   20:25 bus (273) to Shaw, Whitley, Atworth and Box
   20:39 train to Trowbridge (change for Bradford-on-Avon)

[ChrisB]

Tread carefully if you don't get acceptances from all nominated candidates as that then becomes a selective hustings

[grahame]

Tread carefully if you don't get acceptances from all nominated candidates as that then becomes a selective hustings

We are indeed treading carefully. From the Electoral Commission:

A non-selective hustings is a hustings that cannot reasonably be regarded as intended to influence voters to vote for or against particular political parties or candidates.

Spending on a non-selective hustings is not regulated.

In our view, your hustings will be non-selective if:

you have invited all the candidates or parties known to be standing in the constituency, region or other electoral area, or ...

All candidates have been invited and offered multiple dates, and non were lost from attending because of which of those dates we chose.   All have engaged. We even changed our venue to give us a better range of dates to offer.

[grahame]

Hustings, 26.6.2024, Melksham and Devizes. http://www.melkshamenvironmentgroup.org.uk/hustings.html 18:00,

Spencer Sports and Social Club, Beanacre Road, SN12 8AG. Carriages at 20:00. All welcome.

Our public transport in the Melksham and Devizes constituency is underused, and many consider it to have problems.  What position and priority would our prospective MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) put on these issues?

On the trains:
* Melksham - suffers frequent cancellations on an already thin service
* Bradford-on-Avon - through trains from London have been withdrawn
* Devizes Gateway - business case for new station rejected last year
* Long distance fares are unfathomable and tend to be very expensive
* Trains are getting old and available trains and crew in short supply
* Climate change is causing poorly maintained infrastructure to fail
* Passenger journeys by rail have doubles since 2000, causing bottlenecks to develop
* Sustainable and modernised rail travel (e.g. electric / battery) lags behind the world

On buses:
* The £2 temporary flat fare has worked, but will it revert to old (£6 Melksham to Devizes) fares
* The last bus from Chippenham to Melksham is at 17:30 rather than 22:16 in the past
* Many town bus services are now infrequent (e.g. just 2 a day from Skylark Road)
* Buses and trains do not connect, with no bus at all to the station in Melksham or at Avoncliff
* Sustainable (electric or hydrogen) buses not accepted for local service bid where they would be ideal.

Transport is the largest emitting sector of greenhouse gas emissions, producing 26% of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s total emissions, and it's the most stubborn sector to reduce.  Fixing public transport issues such as those listed above will reduce carbon, reduce congestion, and provide better travel for the one in five households (in Melksham South and Forest wards) who don't have a private car or van at all. Come along on Wednesday and hear what the candidates have to say to help inform your vote - and to help those who come along (the majority of them) understand what concerns the public.

[ChrisB]

That's still far too bloated - the candidates will have forgotten your first paragraph by the time you've reached the end....

[GBM]

That's still far too bloated - the candidates will have forgotten your first paragraph by the time you've reached the end....

Just keep it to the first paragraph.

Short and to the point.

[eXPassenger]

Should the heading refer to June, not July?  I hope the new government will be well settled in by 26 July.

[grahame]

Should the heading refer to June, not July?  I hope the new government will be well settled in by 26 July.

Yeah - it should - I will flush that through

Just shy of 80 people in the room, and another 40 watching the live feed as it happened.   Exhausting, in the role I found myself in as chair of the coordination group, but really useful in getting to know the candidates and how they work as well a their policies.   

Watch it back at
https://www.facebook.com/noel.woolrych/videos/1013704943601722?idorvanity=1589423811847101

Fantastic how all the groups from all four towns and several villages in a new constituency came together to organise this event and I look forward to the groups remaining in co-ordinating across the area in the future.  And to us working to support our new MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) in keeping her or him (it could be either) informed, to persuade him or her to follow through on public views, and if we can to help her or him explain issues back to local residents.

I plan to write up the answers on the only question asked on transport during the day which is now today - 28th.

[grahame]

I plan to write up the answers on the only question asked on transport during the day which is now today - 28th.

It' a LONG one at http://grahamellis.uk/blog1275.html .... with a summary of what each candidate present said, and comments on the record of our MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) who is standing for re-election.  She asks that we judge her by her record, and I have included some details of that in my post.