21/09/2026
Cllr Rick Everitt, the leader of Thanet District Council, is asking Stagecoach and Kent County Council to look again at bus changes which take effect from today.
As a Newington ward councillor, he is particularly unhappy with changes to the 34, which has been replaced by route 44 between Ramsgate and Westwood. There will no longer be a through service to Margate, where what is left of the 34 also goes down to hourly.
The changes will reduce access to the Thanet Health Hub off Westwood Road, while a section of the former route 45 between Ramsgate and Broadstairs via Dumpton has been axed entirely.
Cllr Everitt said: “The reinstatement of a direct service between Ramsgate and Canterbury is good news, especially with the government’s £2 fare cap coming into force in January. This extension is something that Polly Billington MP successfully campaigned for and it has wide public support
“However, it cannot be right that Newington residents are seeing a reduced service through one of our most isolated and deprived communities at the same time. I know that residents in Dane Valley and along the remainder of the 34 route are in a similar position.
“Instead of the half-hourly 34, Newington will now have an hourly service via the new 44 and it won’t go along Stirling Way, which is a long road. Not everyone towards the Newington Road end has a car and some have mobility problems.
“It will be too far for some to walk to catch the Loop on Margate Road or the hourly 44 at St Johns Avenue, where it turns on to the Haine Road. It’s unacceptable.
“We don’t expect half-hourly buses to Canterbury, but I believe Stagecoach could operate a service between Ramsgate and Westwood to run alternately with the 44. It could probably be done with just one vehicle.”
Thanet District Council has no say on bus services, but the county council is the transport authority and receives funding from government for bus subsidy. Newington is represented on the county council by two Reform councillors.
Earlier this year, a Freedom of Information request from Nethercourt ward Labour district councillor David Green revealed that KCC bus subsidies were far lower in Thanet than elsewhere in Kent, despite the district being more deprived than others.
“Public transport is a social good and shouldn’t just be determined by profitability,” said Cllr Everitt. “Poor public transport imposes additional costs on those who can least afford it. It affects access to employment, health services and leisure. Newington is not some tiny rural village. It’s bad enough there are no Sunday and evening services on these routes, without these new cuts.”
