A clearer picture of services provided by Stagecoach Strathtay in Forfar, Kirriemuir and Letham should emerge during a presentation in respect of the bus company's general strategy for Angus, the closure of the Forfar bus depot and proposed local bus service revisions.

In a report to go before councillors, Mr Eric Lowson, director of infrastructure services recommends that, subject to the analysis of Stagecoach's planned service revisions which will come into effect on August 18, replacement local bus service provision should be secured in order to maintain services for the public.

The report states Stagecoach Strathtay has acquired new premises at the P.S. Ridgeways Limited depot in Smeaton Road, Dundee.

With the purchase of these premises the current depot at Seagate in Dundee will close and all vehicles will be transferred to Smeaton Road.

The bus station in Dundee will, however, be retained and bus service operation will be unaffected by this move.

Future

The purchase of this new depot in Dundee raised questions over the future of Forfar bus depot and at a meeting of the infrastructure services committee on April 22, an emergency motion was agreed whereby the director of infrastructure services was to contact Stagecoach "as a matter of urgency" in order to ascertain what the company's intentions were regarding the bus depot in Forfar; to seek assurances regarding the retention of jobs in Forfar and to seek assurances regarding the continuation of services within Forfar, Kirriemuir and Letham areas.

At that time the managing director for Stagecoach East Scotland confirmed "it is our intention to close Forfar depot in the near future but I can assure you that jobs will not be affected or any of the services in the area due to the closure of the depot".

The main reason behind the closure of the Forfar depot is that maintenance facilities are inadequate from a Health and Safety perspective for the new vehicles which are being brought into service.

Modern well equipped maintenance facilities are being provided at the new premises in Dundee which will meet the stringent requirements of the fleet today.

As yet, no date has been set for the closure of the Forfar bus depot.

Major revisions

However, Stagecoach have intimated they intend to make major revisions to bus services in Angus from August 18.

They are required by law to register all bus services with the Traffic Commissioner and notification of service changes must be submitted to the Traffic Commissioner 56 days prior to the proposed implementation date - therefore revised timetables had to be submitted by last Monday (June 23).

Although the details of the service changes were not available in time for the director's report for Thursday's meeting, a summary of the changes will be distributed to members at the council meeting.

In his report, Mr Lowson reveals the local bus service revision being introduced by Stagecoach from August 18 are to their commercial bus network.

He said: "The decision to revise these services has been taken by the company following a review of all bus routes in Angus to determine passenger usage and assess the economic viability of the services.

"As the changes are to the commercial network these have been deemed by the company to be commercially sensitive and therefore no public consultation has been undertaken with members, community council and bus users in advance of the registrations being submitted to the Traffic Commissioner.

"The company has based their service revisions on their own management information and survey results."

Mr Lowson continued: "Having submitted registration documentation detailing timetable and/or route revisions to the Traffic Commissioner these service changes must go ahead and services cannot be altered again on the routes in question until at least 90 days after the introduction of the timetable changes.

"The only exception to this is if a case for 'exceptional circumstances' is made to the Traffic Commissioner."

Mr Lowson's reports states the fine details of the service changes is still being reviewed by the council's transport team.

He added: "Should there be any area of unmet demand identified which Stagecoach Strathtay confirms that they do not intend to meet, then tenders will be sought in order to maintain service provision for the public."

The transport team will prepare revised bus timetables and roadside publicity in order to inform the public of the service changes and will send copies of these timetables prior to August 18 to members and to community councils whose areas are affected by the service changes.

At the time of going to press on Tuesday (yesterday), Doug Fleming, managing director, Stagecoach East Scotland said: "It would be inappropriate to comment on individual service changes until we give the councillors the opportunity to discuss the entire Angus network changes that we propose to commence on August 18.

"However, I can advise that there are minimal changes proposed for the Forfar area which will provide around the same level of service as currently operated.

"Once we have approval from The Traffic Commissioner, the steps we take to inform passengers include displaying travel news posters on buses three weeks in advance, posting details of the changes and downloadable timetables on our website and stocking new timetables in our outlets in advance of any change."