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A couple have been left in disbelief after they returned home from work last week to find a bus stop had been put at the end of their driveway. Christopher Harris and Michelle Smith, who live in a village in the South Wales valleys, said they had been aware of plans for the bus stop in the street but those plans had been for further up the road.
When Mr Harris returned home last Thursday he said the bus stop with a pole erected outside his home, which is in his hedge, left him speechless. Since then he said he’s had multiple buses park up and stop at the end of his driveway, blocking him in.
He said at times when the buses are running ahead of schedule they’re stopping for lengthy periods of time outside his house and that when he spoke to one of the drivers about this they told him they agreed the bus stop should never have been put at the end of his drive.
Mr Harris, of Llantrisant Road in Beddau, Rhondda Cynon Taf said the stop is due to be used by schoolchildren from next month when term in the UK starts again, which will mean dozens of kids waiting outside his home every morning.
He told Wales Online: “When I saw the plans it was supposed to be up the road so I didn’t take any notice. But we had parking spaces outside our house and now we’ve lost those spaces. That wasn’t in any consultation.
“At no point did they ever say the stop would be there. When I got home from work last week I was honestly in disbelief. They’ve put the post in my hedge and the bus stop is literally right at the end of my drive.”
He claimed: “The buses are being told to stop right on a dropped kerb. Of course, by the time I realised all of this they’d finished. So far everyone I’ve spoken to hasn’t been able to help me. Not only have we lost parking spaces outside the house without notice, we’re often being blocked into our own drive.”
A spokesman for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council said the council would look into the matter. They said: “Adding the new bus stop within Beddau is intended to improve access to local bus services for the community. Officers have received the concerns raised by the resident and will look into them as a priority issue.”
Mr Harris explained: “I’ve got the local councillor coming out to see me because this is just ridiculous. I’m also waiting for the traffic officer to give me a call. When you Google it there is plenty of information online about why a bus stop should not be placed on a dropped kerb. I can’t believe it’s been put there.
“The bus stops have been moved to accommodate the school kids. So I could have God knows how many kids smack outside my gates every day. What happens when I open my gates and try to get my car out in the morning?”
On his recent conversation with a driver of a bus which had stopped at the bottom of his drive Mr Harris recalled: “On Saturday morning he was parked there for a while and I said: ‘Nothing against you mate, but you’re blocking my driveway.’ He called his company and told them that a bus stop was blocking the house and he said he totally agreed with me that it wasn’t right.
“He was good as gold. So we’ll see what comes of it now because it can’t go on like this. I have threatened that if buses continue to block my drive then I will block the bus stop. I’ll have no choice.”
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