Following your front page article about the proposed changes to the flexible Connect2 Wiltshire bus services in the Pewsey Vale (May 1) we have serious concerns about its consultation and procurement by Wiltshire Council. Devizes Passengers had urged the council to hold a public meeting as part of the consultation.

Invitations were duly emailed to parish councils and others asking people to register on the Eventbrite website. It was not surprising to discover that very few had registered. Pewsey people passed the word around and we rushed out last-minute posters, flyers and more emails about the public meeting. More than 40 people turned up and were asked to discuss in groups who the bus service should prioritise and whether the proposal could be improved. The council told us that it needed to save £70,000, and this could only be done by cutting the call centre and changing to a fixed route service. A number of people were allowed to register their anger, especially those who would be left high and dry as a result or have to meander inefficiently across the Pewsey Vale. The group discussions started later than planned.

It was difficult for groups to produce sensible responses without prior information. There were only a few minutes at the end to discuss better options, a task which normally requires skilled analysts, logisticians and schedulers. Most worryingly, we discovered that the contract had already been put out to tender before the consultation period ended. The views of the groups and on forms distributed on the buses will be put into a report to Coun Horace Prickett, Portfolio holder for Public Transport, who chaired the meeting, but did not seem very interested in exploring new ideas. We were given the strong impression that the council had already made up its mind.

With social isolation as well as congestion and pollution rising up the agenda, we are being urged to catch the bus whenever possible. What an ideal opportunity this was to make real progress. Instead, the event struck us all as a cynical exercise in box ticking. The greatest triumph of Wiltshire Council so far as I am concerned was getting their slogan ‘Where everybody matters’ emblazoned on everything they own within a few days of being set up. Sadly, it is ringing more and more hollow.

Jasper Selwyn, Chairman, Devizes Passengers.