THE new Oak Tree centre in Oxmoor, with its many clinics, is up to a quarter of a mile away from some bus stops, and has an enormous car park attached to it. Surely, existing bus routes could have been diverted, taking only about a minute to run up to it

THE new Oak Tree centre in Oxmoor, with its many clinics, is up to a quarter of a mile away from some bus stops, and has an enormous car park attached to it.

Surely, existing bus routes could have been diverted, taking only about a minute to run up to it and return. I suppose the bus companies thought of the costs of doing this both in terms of fuel and annoyance to passengers wanting to go to other destinations.

But, if it had been linked to existing bus routes, more people would have used buses to get to it rather than their cars. Surely we need Green-minded councillors to consider issues like this.

More generally, not enough has been done to improve buses in the Huntingdon area. In Cambridge, a new city council administration came to power about 10 years ago and worked successfully with the bus operators to persuade them to modernise the bus service.

Now, nearly all the Cambridge buses I see are easy to get onto, with wide doors and no steep steps onto them.

But in the Huntingdon area there still seem many old buses about with narrow doors and high steps, which are difficult for pensioners, the disabled, mothers with pushchairs and people with luggage. Surely this deters people from using the buses, which are often more likely to break down too, for one reason or another.

With the Climate Change Bill there is an opportunity to support changes that could lead to better bus services too. Surely climate change cannot be stopped without less pollution, which includes encouraging more people to use buses (and rail) rather than their cars.

BRIAN SMITH

Elm Close

Huntingdon