Angry users and drivers criticise new Northampton bus station plans at public exhibition
Northampton planned new bus station
PLANS for the new bus station which is due to be built in Northampton town centre were met with an angry response when they were unveiled to the public yesterday.
Proposals to knock down the current Greyfriars building and replace it with a new bus station on the site of the Fishmarket in Sheep Street have been on the cards for a number of years.
The latest proposals for the new building went on show at the bus station yesterday morning and many bus users who stopped to look at the plans argued the new building would not be as good as the current, 36-year-old bus station.
St James resident Lorraine Pannel echoed the sentiments of many bus users when she argued the current building just needed cleaning up.
She said: “All they need to do with this building is give it a good clean and a lick of paint. It’s well connected to the Grosvenor Centre and I don’t think the new building will be half as good.
“If it’s raining at the moment, you can get into the shops without getting wet. The new building will be all right in the summer, but not in the winter.”
Many other residents also expressed fears the Fishmarket site would not be big enough to accommodate the buses and passengers who currently use Greyfriars.
Sylvia O’Neill, from Parklands, said: “It’s an utter waste of money. We’ll be going back to the days of standing out in the cold and wet waiting for the buses. And the Fishmarket is too far out of town for people to walk.”
Rose Fisher, from Headlands, added: “Greyfriars is perfect for the shops. The building is not good, but if it was brightened up I think it would be much better than the one they’re proposing. I’m not impressed with the plans at all.”
The new bus station will cost just under £8 million, with funding coming from the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation, Northampton Borough Council and Northamptonshire County Council.
Its development will allow Greyfriars to be demolished and the Grosvenor Centre to be extended.
While some people at yesterday’s public exhibition were so angry about the plans to demolish the current bus station they resorted to shouting at the people presenting the plans, some bus users welcomed the idea of having a new station.
Briar Hill resident Eleanor McKenzie said: “It’s got to be an improvement on the current bus station, it’s horrible.
“The new building looks modern and more in-keeping with the rest of the country and if it leads to the expansion of the Grosvenor Centre, that will be positive for the whole town.”
Jane Roberts, from Semilong, added: “I think the new plans are great, I really hate the current bus station. It will be a good move to have a new one and it should be nice when it’s done.
“It’s about time they got rid of Greyfriars, it’s had its day.”
Kristen Hajdari, from Blackthorn, said she also believed the new station would be a benefit to the town.
She said: “I think the town needs a new bus station, it will be a real step forward. We need this type of regeneration if the town is going to move forwards.”
The new station will have an indoor waiting area, public toilets, a cafe and shops.
It will have 12 bus bays and a further seven bus stops will be created along The Drapery.
It is hoped that the new bus station could be built by August 2013.
Plans for the development will be on show at the Greyfriars bus station again on Saturday from 10am until 3pm.
Bus drivers express fear over plans for new site
BUS drivers have warned that plans to build a new bus station in Northampton town centre ‘will not work’.
Plans for the new station, which will be built on the site of the Fishmarket in Sheep Street went on public display for the first time yesterday.
Among the hundreds of people who queued to see the plans being displayed at the current Greyfriars bus station yesterday were a number of bus drivers.
Ken Hammond said the current bus station was not ideal for bus drivers, but warned that he believed the new station could actually be worse.
He said: “I think my view is the same as every other driver’s, it’s not going to work because the site they’ve picked to build the new bus station on is too small.
“The Greyfriars building is not good, but I don’t think this new development will be an improvement at all.
“If you’d have asked me 12 months ago, I wouldn’t have said that just refurbishing Greyfriars would be an option, but if you look at the plans they’ve come up with I think that would be better.”
One of the most serious criticisms of the Greyfriars building is that it is dangerous.
In 2004, a 21-year-old man died after being hit by a bus inside the station. His death was followed in 2009 by another accident which saw a 74-year-old woman die after being hit by another bus inside the station.
Following the accidents, Northampton Borough Council was ordered to carry out emergency work to make sure the bus station was safer and to date there have been no more serious accidents.
But bus driver, Billy Halewood, said he feared the new station could be as dangerous as Greyfriars once was, because there would be a lot of buses and people using the small site.
He said: “It just won’t work. The space they’re trying to fit it on just isn’t big enough for a bus station.
“I think there will be a lot more accidents there than there are at Greyfriars because the buses are going to be in a much smaller area, as are the pedestrians.
“I think it’s going to be dangerous.”
Members of Northampton’s Bus Users’ group have also criticised the plans.
Group member Patrick Rawlinson said: “The Fishmarket site is hopelessly inadequate.
“Greyfriars is the best bus station within a 40-mile radius.
“It may be a bit gloomy, but it was gloomy when it opened in 1976.
“All it needs is for the lighting to be changed and the building to be painted.”
Alan Jones, who is also a member of the group, added: “I think the new bus station is just not going to be big enough. At times, even Greyfriars isn’t big enough. So I don’t think the new plans will work at all.
“But I’m afraid it may be too late to stop it now, the council seems committed to doing it.
“I’d much rather see Greyfriars improved, but I think we have to accept it’s going to go.
“Hopefully once it’s gone, the Grosvenor Centre will be expanded and that will be a benefit to the town.”
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Comments
There are 57 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
Davidjb
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 01:09 PMI totally agree that the Fishmarket is not the best place for a new Bus Station and also agree that the new building is inadequate for the number of buses & users that will be using it. However I also agree that the current Greyfriars Station needs to go. It is dangerous & outdated for the way we live today mainly in part due to serious neglect from the Council. The best place for a new Bus Station would be to build it exactly where it is now. Surely plans could be drawn up so that the new Bus Station sits where it is now with the Grovesnor Extension being built over the top of it (just like offices sit above it now). Or if the two buildings have to be separate why not build it on the site of the car park next to the Court? It could easily be connected to the Grosvenor extension by a walkway or tunnel as it is now. The car park doesn't have to be lost either as the Bus Station could be built with a car park on its roof.
expo65
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 08:56 PMNO.53 - How can you say that is all and it needs to go - do you use the bus or bus station ? Tony Clarke is the only decent councillor brave voice to speak his mind - where are all the other town councillors ? I bet none of them use the buses or this station , so none of them have made any protests nor supported their ward residents. The two day consultation was flawed , and has not given an open long term opportunity for wider bus station users, the little stand , where it was hardly visible , no one seem to take any notice , and to many it seemed just another commercial promotion, is this all they could do? Yet NCCMBCand all brothers in arms are always keen to spend thousands for own driving agenda , where it might matter to them , but because they are dealing with lower or mix social class , they are just vesting their own interest , rather then actually go out and do real fact finding consultation, but that involves hard work, which does not seem to agree with this people who have the luxury of driving around. NO55 is quite right, there could have been better locations , why was the car park adjoiing victoria street , not considered , it would have served all. If the three brothers in arms have already decided on present plans , I guess that is it, perhaps GREYFRIARS should then be renamed as WE ARE ALL IN TOGETHER STATION. How appropriate?
KevSmith
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 05:37 PMthe new site is too small for the current bus traffic, its location is also wrong, Greyfriars provides the the current bus operators with a stabling point, vehicle washer and provides a environment for the users. it might be a good idea to ask the bus companies and bus drivers what would make a good bus station - they know what they need and whatthey want - the new site at fishmarket are accidents and traffic delays waiting to happen, its too small for the town and its bus traffic If you want to see a bad bus station look at BLETCHLEY !! but it can cope with high demand periods and has the bays to deal with it during busy times the town will become a bus crush zone, timetables will need to be recast yet again and this and the extra fuel wasted in traffic queuing will put the price of bus fares up yet again. I THink that the money would better used rebuilding and refurbishing greyfriars, But then im not a councillor who is being lobbied by the grosvenor centre owners who want to increase their high rent shopping complex whilst the rest of the town centre becomes a ghost town. The best place for a bus station - dare i say - st peter ways car park, its central - 10 mins walk from london midland and is big enough to deal with current and future bus route expansion
Tony Clarke
Monday, January 23, 2012 at 01:11 PMposter 53 below, if you feel that wasting millions of pounds of tax payers money to feather the nest of private business to build a sub standard bus interchange and a shrunken Grovesnor centre extention is neither interesting or important, then you of course have the right to be disinterested and I wish you well in your niave ignorance
Comment Reported Unsuitable by User
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 10:18 PMTony Clarke; you used a lot of words in your comment, but failed to write anything of interest or importance. Aside from the hideous design of the current bus station, it is unnecessarily large and poorly positioned with regard to the future expansion of the town centre. It therefore needs to go. That is all that needs to be said.
MrPowell
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 06:17 PMWhy not simply extend the Grosvenor out on to the whole site and put covered bus bays along one or both sides so that people can get onoff and go straight in to the shops. No need for the Fishmarket scheme at all.
lady muck
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 11:50 AMWagtheDog..Thanks...I've just had a look...not very detailed is it ! I'm disappointed that the exhibition was just for last Thursday and Saturday (and I've missed it)...not exactly 'open government'. At least it appears to have a roof, but the sketch of the 'passenger waiting area' doesn't look much bigger than a tennis court...
WagTheDog
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 11:08 PMLady Muck, and anybody else who's interested, the plans are on show on the County Council website. I obviously can't give you the exact link here, for fear of further pending moderation. Go to the County Council home page, the northamptonshie plus gov plus uk site, and click on the "View all consulatations..." link under the "Have your say" header in the middle of the page. From the list displayed, click on the "Proposed new bus interchange" link. There are two PDF links in the middle of that page, which will take you to the plans, and the consultation form that can be filled in for you to have a say. It's a pity that the C&E could not have published this link, since it can not be picked up by Google.
Exposé
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 01:27 PMYou're relying on the Chron rocking the boat there, can't see it happening. Look how quickly they buckled under pressure from Cardoza re: Richiiesgate. I hardly think they'll risk upsetting L&G. Quite why they haven't asked the onlt people that matter in all of this - bus station users - is beyond me. The car driving trolls on here should have no say whatsoever in this issue. Also, the ONLY place the plans should be on view is in the bus station. There's plenty of room and every single person that it affects will be there. Or maybe this is the problem? I can't help but feel there is some nest feathering going on here, prove me wrong NBC et al.
Tony Clarke
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 01:10 PMI feel very strongly about how the public are being kept in the dark over this whole charade. We have stories on the bus station, stories on the grovesnor Extention, stories on the cost and who is paying for what, but no one has brought it all together into one place. The council meanwhile stay silent on the deal done with L&G because of commercial sensitivity! Surely for us all to be able to judge as to whether the new bus interchange is needed or not, or whether the old bus station should be demolished to make way for an extention to the grovesnor centre ( the plans for which we have still not seen) and whether it is good value or not ( i.e. how much L&G paid the council for the land and how much land) then we need to look at the whole picture at once and not just make judgements on individual pieces of the jigsaw. Personally having looked at the whole picture I think that the public purse has been shortchanged and that politicians have sold off our future in return for a quick political gain. How about a double page feature by the Chron, warts and, NBC, L&G, WNDC, and stagecoach, starting with who paid who for what? Followed by will the end result really be worthy of the bill? I see the headline as "Grovesnor Extention , Winners and Losers" Unfortunately my view is that we the council tax payer have lost out heavily already, and sold the family silver on no more than a. loose promise to build an inferior bus station, a watered down extention to the shopping centre with the only winners being stagecoach and L&G who both must feel as if the have won the lottery
lady muck
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 08:40 AMThe Chron doesn't reveal the site of the 'public exhibition'. Is it at the bus Station ? Can somebody please tell me. Like WagTheDog, I would have thought this could easily have been on a web site...perhaps it is...I assume that this will not really be a terminus and that buses will only stop for as long as it takes for passengers to board and exit. My assumption is based on the much-reduced number of bays. At peak periods many buses will be queuing at the stops and buses will be backing up to enter the bus station.
Common sense
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 07:18 AMComment removed by moderator
Links
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 07:18 AMIn comment 39 I think Chrispy1 summarises the situation perfectly. Change isn't always bad. Yes, the new terminus will be different and will operate differently and users might choose to alter their routine to fit in with the new method of operation but none of those things have to be bad, do they?? The fact that the current bus station is functionally sufficient (albeit a foul smelling hovel) shouldn't detract from the fact that its physical location is a barrier to progress in the town. As long as that hulking monstrosity is sitting there we have no room in which to expand the centre and until we do that the whole town centre will continue to die the death of a thousand cuts that it is currently suffering.
Laurinjon
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 01:17 AMTo hell with the old Bus Station, lets have a new one, but not sure about the old Fish Market site. it's too small is it not. Lets have the Buses back in Abington Street. Open Plan is much better who cares about the weather. Gets rid of the drunks and smelly's.
WagTheDog
Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 12:15 AMUh? All I said was that the exhibition was on the County Council's web site. Web links must now be on the C&E's banned list.
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