Twickenham pensioner feels 'trapped' in home by driveway blocking bus stop
By Heather Nicholls
17th Mar 2024 | Local News
A Twickenham pensioner, Parvinder Webra, has described feeling trapped inside her own home due to a bus stop that is blocking her driveway.
The 75-year-old widow has been fighting for the bus stop to be moved for over 22 years, stating that its location is affecting her health and well-being.
The bus stop is situated between 614 and 616 Hanworth Road and serves routes 110 and 111.
The 'bus stop' space marked onto the road is directly in front of Mrs Webra's driveway and the bus stop shelter is situated between the two houses.
At busy times during the day, there are up to 14 buses an hour – about one every four minutes.
One bus runs through the night and buses often wait at the stop for long periods.
If a bus breaks down – as has happened – access to Mrs Webra's home can be blocked for hours.
When Mrs Webra and her husband moved to the house in 1977, the home already had a dropped curb and the bus stop was originally positioned outside a house further up the road.
In 1999 the bus stop was moved due to the need to upgrade the nearby pedestrian crossing.
Mr Webra objected in 1999 to the stop being moved to outside 614. TfL did not respond to these objections.
In response to subsequent objections from Mrs Webra, TfL has said there was no other suitable place, however, more recently, since visiting the site, they have since admitted this was wrong.
In 2006 the Council's highways department wrote to local residents proposing that the bus stop be relocated to improve accessibility. But the Council then decided not to.
Mrs Webra has sent many letters and photos to TfL to illustrate her intolerable situation, including doctor's letters describing Mrs Webra's deteriorating health due to the prolonged circumstances of the case.
She told Nub News that the location of the bus stop is causing her stress, depression and health problems.
Mrs Webra said: "I can't take this any more, I feel trapped in my home.
"It's like a prison – it's giving me problems all the time, it's blocking my way, I can't go in and out.
"It's giving me a lot of stress and affecting my health"
She added: "I've been reporting this for nearly 22 years and no one has listened to me.
"I am at my wit's end."
She added: "No one at TfL will answer my questions. I want to know why, on safety grounds at least, TfL won't move the bus stop. I've offered to pay to have it moved."
Parvinder has reported that passengers waiting at the bus stop play and wait inside of her driveway, leave litter and have even knocked on her door to ask to use her bathroom.
She is also concerned that the pollution from the idling buses could make her asthma worse.
This, as well as the noise, means she is unable to leave her window open.
On one occasion, Pavinder had to swerve to avoid a child who was playing in front of her driveway, causing damage to her brand-new car and her gate post – she is concerned that it is an accident waiting to happen.
On another occasion, a bus broke down in front of her house meaning that she was not able to leave her driveway. Another time, a bus broke down and she could not get back into her house with her shopping.
Nick Dexter, who is assisting Pavinder with her fight to get the bus stop removed, has been in touch with Seb Dance Deputy Mayor for Transport.
In a response dated 23 October 2023 Dance said: "I asked TfL's Bus Operations team to confirm that there is notice instructing drivers not to wait unnecessary amounts of time at this stop and I can confirm this signage is in place.
"In terms of littering, I understand the Richmond Council has provided a bin at the stop which looks to be regularly emptied by the local authority.
"TfL endeavours to provide a bus stop approximately every 400 metres along routes to ensure an even spread of access."
The letter added: "The stop outside Mrs Webra's house is likely to be used by people from the people living in the flats opposite Mrs Webra's home as it is the closest stop available.
"Removing this bus stop would leave a gap of approximately 770 metres between stops, which is well in excess of TfL standards of the 400 metres apart.
"I understand from TfL that there has been a bus stop in the vicinity of the property since the 1960s.
"TfL believe it was moved slightly some years ago to accommodate a request from Richmond Council to install the pedestrian crossing."
"Local issues such as those in this case are always difficult. TfL needs to run an efficient and reliable bus network, balanced with minimising the impact on local residents.
"The frequency of this route however, is a low frequency route, meaning this stop has only two bus routes serving route 110 with three buses per hour and the route 111 with six or seven buses per hour daytime and two buses per hour at night, so operates around 10 buses per hour which is low frequency, and our data currently shows approximately 60 passengers per day boarding at this stop which is low to moderate."
Twickenham Nub News has contacted Seb Dance for further comment.
To date, neither Seb Dance nor TfL have commented on the safety issues arising from the bus stop's current location
Rosie Trew, TfL's Head of Bus Service Delivery, said: "London's bus network plays a vital role in enabling people to travel affordably and sustainably.
"We work hard to make sure bus stops are placed in the right locations and within easy-to-reach distances.
"We would encourage all passengers to be considerate of their surroundings, including when waiting at a bus stop.
"Customer feedback is important to us and we constantly monitor and review our bus network to ensure our bus services and bus stops correctly serve Londoners."
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