Residents complain about 'sorry state' of Vale of Glamorgan bus stops

A council in the Vale of Glamorgan said it will look to upgrade one of a number of shoddy-looking bus stops which residents say are in dire need of repair.

Residents in Rhoose took to social media recently to complain about the state of a number of bus stops in their area, one of which is strewn with rubbish and boarded up.

Vale of Glamorgan Council member for the area, Cllr Samantha Campbell, even suggested that she and the community get together to fix up some of the bus shelters themselves.

However, the council raised concerns about this.

Cllr Campbell said: “The bus shelters on Fonmon Road are in such a sorry state.

“A comment that comes up regularly from residents in this area is that they are the forgotten end of the village, and when you look at examples like these bus stops, you can see why.”

The council said one of the Fonmon Road bus stops could be upgraded this financial year with Welsh Government Local Transport Fund grant money.

Cllr Campbell said one of the bus shelters at the bottom of Adenfield Way will have a new unit shortly, but added that no funding has been provided to upgrade the rest which people have raised concerns about.

She added: “This is obviously extremely disappointing and I share residents’ frustrations with this decision.

“I did float the idea, on a recent Facebook post, about getting a group of local residents together and doing up the remaining bus shelters ourselves.

“A lick of paint and new panes, although not a brand-new shelter, would make the world of difference, especially when I’ve seen how positive these projects have been received in places like Penarth.”

The council said it would have safety concerns in relation to the public working on the shelters which are very close to the carriageway along Fonmon Road.

Cllr Campbell said: “We’ve seen all over the Vale about bus shelters being vandalised; the new bus shelters we installed in Rhoose last year have been vandalised already. Would this have happened if the local community had been involved in the project?“

Vale of Glamorgan Council said it received several complaints about bus users, particularly parents with children, not having enough room to stand and spilling out onto the road in relation to the Fonmon Cross bus stop.

The council added it does not have a funding pot to uprgade bus shelters across the Vale.

A spokesperson added: "Our highways maintenance team have a very small budget of around £25,000 to cleanse and maintain shelters (replace broken panes, etc..) but this does not stretch too far and cannot be used to upgrade shelters.“

"The other shelters will have to remain in situ until the grant money becomes available as we do not have the funding to replace them. This is the same across the Vale and other areas of Wales.”