Not such good news for Wimborne

Following our ‘Good news for Wimborne’ article last month in Verwood & Wimborne Viewpoint, we received a complaint.

It turns out that since Canford Bridge, Merley opened under traffic light control at the end of October, the people of Merley have lost a service.

Local resident, Mr Traylen telephoned to tell us that during the bridge closure the route 3, Wilts & Dorset bus had run regularly up to Merley and from there, a shuttle bus had provided a service into Wimborne.  Since the opening of the bridge, the shuttle bus put in place by Poole Borough Council, has been stopped, yet Wilts & Dorset are not allowing the route 3 into Wimborne because of the expected traffic hold up at the lights.

Wilts & Dorset Operations Director Andrew Wickham commented: “We consider it important to offer a reliable service to our customers. By continuing to terminate the route 3 buses in Merley while traffic across Canford Bridge is disrupted, we can ensure that this section of the route to and from Poole should run to time. The service we will be operating has been in place since the bridge closed in June, so users should notice no difference from the current situation.”

Mr Traylen argues that since the shuttle stopped, he cannot get into Wimborne unless he goes via Broadstone and Corfe Mullen.

Wilts & Dorset confirm the route 3 buses that run between Poole and Wimborne via Corfe Mullen are not affected, and continue to run every 30 minutes as shown in the timetable.
Mr Traylen said, “It is now not worth me shopping in Wimborne, I may as well go to Broadstone.  This is not good news for Wimborne.”