Last week saw a well-attended public meeting in Greenhill about the situation at Meadowgreen Surgery – obviously, many people are concerned about the implications of the surgery potentially moving to Jordanthorpe, and I’m grateful to all those who came along to listen and ask questions.

The surgery have said there is not yet a firm decision to move, but that if they decide to go ahead, the move would take place by March 2019. It’s therefore vital that any new transport provision, which seems to be the main issue of concern, is in place by then to avoid major problems for patients.

The feeling in the room was certainly, as I’ve raised, that the M17 is inadequate, and SYPTE will be consulting on alternatives from this September – I’ll provide an update when this is live and would encourage you all to contribute. In the meantime you can sign my petition calling for an improved bus service to help keep the pressure on.

One idea for an improved service which was raised at the meeting was a shuttle bus between Bradway, Greenhill, Lowedges, and Jordanthorpe, similar to that provided by Tesco, providing access to both the new surgery site and the new St. James Retail Park. I’ll be writing to the retail park to make further enquiries, and the surgery are keen that this option is put forward by as many people as possible during the consultation.

A further concern raised was accessibility during cold winter weather – buses frequently don’t make it to Lowedges when there is snow and ice, which could cut off those without cars or other transport. The surgery are looking at the option of hiring rooms at Lowedges Community Centre in those cases, to provide care in an emergency when transport is not available.

As always I’ll try to keep you up to date with any further developments – but you can always get in touch with any questions or concerns.