No renewal for Aberystwyth Park and Ride service

Costing the Council £69,000 a year to run, the current P&R service operates a circular route around Aberystwyth town centre with Bronglais Hospital being a key part of this. As part of identifying efficiencies to achieve the necessary financial savings the P&R service has been highlighted as an area to be examined.

A special meeting of the Thriving Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee was held on Thursday 14 July in respect of this matter.

The current P&R service provides access to users of Bronglais Hospital via Caradog Road, avoiding the need to cross Penglais Road. However, in September of this year, Hywel Dda University Health Board will be closing this entrance for nine months or so during major hospital refurbishment works; any P&R service could not therefore operate via Caradog Road for that period of nine months.

A range of alternative ways to get to the hospital in the absence of the P&T service are being provided: a number of other bus services that members of the public can use to connect the hospital with the town. Also, as the Autumn approaches, it is expected that the Mill Street development will be open and will provide 555 parking spaces in the town centre – double the previous number on this site – which will be free to use for up to three hours. This will drastically change the parking patterns in and around Aberystwyth and is very likely to impact on usage of the Park & Ride.

In addition, the Health Board is currently making arrangements to provide the multi-storey car park at Bronglais Hospital for sole use by the hospital’s visitors and outpatients.

Councillor Alun Williams, Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Carbon Management, said: “In these very challenging financial times, it makes little sense for the Council to be throwing money at a Park & Ride service that has relatively low patronage and will not be able to take people to the outpatients entrance as before, especially when the hospital are taking fresh steps to ensure their on-site car park is exclusively reserved for patients and visitors. At the same time the new Mill Street car park will soon be coming on stream with double the previous capacity and is expected to fundamentally change car parking patterns around the town. When all this has bedded in the bus companies and ourselves will need to reassess where services are most needed and what we can work together to provide.”

Matthew Willis of Hywel Dda University Health Board said: “Hywel Dda University Health Board acknowledges the decision by the Council and is working to address the impact upon patients by protecting more parking on site for patients and visitors. We are also working with the Council to identify options for parking and other transport options to ensure public transport users can access the hospital easily and safely”.

Information will be shared about other services available to the public and how they can best access the Penglais Road side of the hospital from locations in and around Aberystwyth.