A COUNCILLOR has been accused of dismissing safety concerns over a planned bus route.

Mike Jupp, who lives in North Home Road, claims that Beeches ward county councillor Nigel Robbins is not taking residents' fears about the planned bus service seriously.

The new route is being set up to take residents of Mulberry Court housing complex in the Kingshill Meadow estate into town through North Home Road.

Those that live in the road are concerned that because the bus gate entrance is on a sharp bend there could be accidents due to poor visibility.

But Cllr Robbins is adamant their concerns are not warranted, and has said that bus drivers would approach the bend with caution.

He said: “They wouldn’t drive too fast. I think they would approach it with great care.”

Other road users would easily be able to spot a bus coming, he added.

“They would have to be blind, anybody would know that a bus is coming," he said.

Cllr Robbins said Mr Jupp, who lives next to the bus gate, is responsible for making visibility poor on the corner as trees in his garden need trimming.

But Mr Jupp said his trees met the required regulations and was puzzled by the councillor's comments, saying he was "dismissing" residents' concerns.

Mr Jupp said: “He obviously hasn’t driven round this sharp bend and experienced other drivers coming round it and cutting off the corner - he is therefore talking from ignorance of the reality.”

Mr Jupp claimed Cllr Robbins had initially told residents he supported their opposition to the bus route but then changed his mind without informing them.

But Cllr Robbins said he had initially wanted to help the residents but then discovered that, because five years had passed since Kingshill Meadow was built, the agreement to include the bus route could not be reversed under county council rulings.

“I took it to people at county hall. I went through the section 106 agreement (planning document) and it was quite clear you couldn’t turn this back,” he said.

Last week , Cllr Robbins attended a meeting between North Home Road residents and representatives from the emergency services to discuss their concerns.

Cllr Robbins said he would suggest that warning signs are put up near the gate to advise drivers that buses are coming.