Council leader to discuss demolition of Northampton’s bus station in online web-chat
PLANS to demolish the Greyfriars bus station in Northampton are due to be the focus of a heated public debate next week.
The leader of Northampton Borough Council, Councillor David Mackintosh (Con, Rectory Farm) will take part in a live web-chat on the Chronicle & Echo’s website from 11am on Friday, February 24.
During the debate he is expected to face tough questioning from members of the public who have inundated the Chron’s letters page over the past few months with calls for Greyfriars to remain open.
He said: “The relocation of the bus station and the future of the Greyfriars site are key parts of the planned regeneration of Northampton town centre and it’s absolutely vital that we get this right.
“Over the last few months my colleagues and I have spent a lot of time speaking with bus users, and also the wider public through the recent consultation exercise.
“This web chat will be another opportunity to hear what the public think and to put across some of the reasons for the proposals.
“I’m pleased that interest in these proposals is so high and I would encourage anyone with views on this to participate in the web chat.”
Plans for the bus station would see Greyfriars demolished and a new bus station built on the current site of the Fishmarket.
Bus users who want to save Greyfriars have warned the Fishmarket site will not be large enough for a new bus station. Instead, they have called for the current bus station to be improved and refurbished.
Patrick Rawlinson, who is member of the Northampton Bus Users Group, welcomed the fact the leader of the council was going to take part in the online debate.
He said: “Any public dialogue with the leaders of the council over this controversial issue is useful.
“But I fear the real trouble is these people don’t use the bus station and don’t understand the bus industry.”
The new bus station would cost just under £8 million.
It would have an indoor waiting area, public toilets, a cafe and shops. It would also contain 12 bus bays and a further seven bus stops would be created along The Drapery. It is hoped the new station could be built by August 2013.
To take part in the online debate visit www.northamptonchron.co.uk from 11am on February 24.
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Comments
There are 21 comments to this article
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layer cake
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 02:27 PMUnfortunately the market is a shadow of its former self. These days all the stalls would fit into the Fishmarket building. Better than standing out in all weathers. As for the fountain: when people wished for one they most probably imagined the Victorian one restored in the centre, not the invisble waste of space down the bottom!!!
layer cake
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 02:08 PMOh! what's the point we all know it's A DONE DEAL. Just for a few new shops. They can't even fill the old ones! And they would rather save some round metal structures that serve no purpose at all. The £8 million could have nicely refurbished the bus & coach station. When it,s gone it's gone.
fxtown
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 06:44 PMI do think that the chron does a great job in stimulating debate, and offers one of the few platforms for a contrarion voice.Aren't they annoying though? And when you say snobs i know exactly what you mean.Did you see the recent lovenorthampton branding excercise- they have airbrushed the towns market out of existence because it doesn't fit the brand ethos.Shame on them. Don't miss a thing(slogan)? Didn't they think we'd not miss the market, five days a week on the biggest market square in england with more footfall customers than the towns two biggest department stores combined?
expo65
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 10:10 PMTrust the DEAR LEADER ( NBC) to choose a time of his personal choice 11am -of all the times when the majority of us will be at work with no luxury of access to web . Typical Tory hypocritical policy , just going with one more motion that how caring and listening he and his team is. Who is fooling who in this SAGA of poltical show off ? From top to bottom all this people are driven by selfish greed, power , anf personal ego , more then they actually care about our town residents and people like us who actually use the bus station. Our town SNOB MP's think it is an UGLY building , the very people who might not have been even born , when this station was built , should be now looking at their own faces in the mirror , and will find out who is more ugly. At least our yesteryear bus station provides us with our needs , and we have no qualms about its ugliness. Better then their gas guzzling expensive cars. Readers who can confront DEAR LEADER on the given time , should and must confront this man , and make sure you get your rightful answers and not standard side tracked answers. C&E should publish all the questions and answers.
BQ
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 07:39 PMThat's an interesting point about it being the Mayor's decision about prayers. Monkeytosh trying to make himself look more important than he realy is (AGAIN!)? Has anyone else spotted the similarities between Monkeytosh and Kim Jong-un? One is a tinpot dictator and the other rules North Korea. If there's any stigma to be attached to Kim Jong-Monkeytosh then it's because he has been tainted from the day he plunged the knife into his former leader's back.
Joe Joyce
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 11:34 AMA pointless exercise by the leader of NBC. We all know they wont listen - or if they do they will then ignore the public and do what they want anyway. I firmly believe its a done deal and unless your name includes Legal and General you will not be listened to. I fear a monumental mistake costing the taxpayers of Northampton a lot of money. A. The proposed site just is not big enough (Despite the spin by NBC) B. They dont manage the traffic very well in Sheep St at the moment - so how will they manage it in the future? Cars park with impunity both sides of the road, plenty with no blue badge displayed. C. Where are the Market Traders gonna queue up from 3.45 each day whilst they wait to get onto the Market Square? D. This scheme will see the removal of at least two disabled parking bays - where are they being relocated to? E. It will be dangerous for pedestrians to cross Bradshaw StSheep St - it's bad enough already! F. Can we see some designs for the extra Bus Stops in the Drapery - Or do we have to put up with what is already there? They are ok for a short wait and for a few people to wait at but not good enough to be the main departure point for a service - spme of which are very busy routes. God help us - the Council certainly wont!
WagTheDog
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 10:49 PMWhat's the point? Every sane and intelligent person in Northampton knows that the Borough Council aren't interested in public opinion.
Tabasco kid
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 09:05 PMEight million quid, for an indoor waiting area, some toilets and a cafe,and twelve bus bays. And thats without going over budget. That does seem just a bit expensive to me. Eight million quid could scrub Greyfriars up a treat.
fxtown
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 08:10 PMyes it's old news, but have they got it wrong? Is it the biggest crackpot jackpot waste of eight million pounds? will the planners end up in the dock? If this will really work it shouldn't be too hard to build a scale model.Lots of people- ordinary people- not planning professors, do not believe it can be done.The space is simply not big enough.A model wouldn't cost a fortune and may well save the council from a potential costly disaster.
NN3man
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 05:41 PMThis is seriously OLD news! I was under the impression it was all going ahead, so is this a consultation or a confirmation of the demolition of the bus station. I swear that the C&E just bring this story up, and the Grosvenor Centre and the railway station when there is nothing else to report about!
fxtown
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 05:20 PMThis is too important an issue to stigmatise indviduals such as the current council leader.The issues seem to be that the size of the new interchange will not be adequate for buses, and national express coaches will be homelessAdd ot this that the mix of large numbers of pedestrians and buses will compromise safety, possibly to a degree that over time on a statistical basis there could be fatalities.At this point i would have thought any planners could well be culpable.That's the technical side.On the strategy side the idea seems to be that an old buiding which is somewhat of a nuisance to redevelopment can be removed and rebuilt via a grant.In other words it solves several problems (apart from those of bus and coach users) and costs (us) nothing.It might be that bus users are economically insignificant (they are a sacrifice the new shopping complex will make on some kind of three vovlo's beats a full bus spend equation).
Tony Clarke
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 05:13 PMSteve Riches and BQ are spot on these were the questions we were asking as Independents 18 months ago when the deal went through and none of the three parties batted an eyelid! Also I am sure I saw on the C&E website this morning a story on Cllr Mackintosh insisting that on his instruction prayers would still be heard before all Council meetings? Where did the story go? and to make matters clear the decision has nothing to do with him as leader as the Chaplain is the Mayors chaplain and only the Mayor can decide what happens at meetings. I know every leader wants to control every aspect of Council business but ion this he is wrong and should withdraw his comments? or were they withdrawn for him?
Finker
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 04:42 PMI am sure it counts as consultation LadyM.
lady muck
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 04:14 PMDoes this qualify as a 'debate' or 'discussion' ? I thought the decision had been made. I was in the BS two days ago and it looks as if cleaning has been abandonned.
BQ
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 03:10 PMMonkeytosh has gone from talking tough to L&G and telling them to get a move on, to having his tummy tickled by them. If he'll stab his own former leader in the back to get up the greasy pole, then what thought will he give to what the rest of us think?
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