More than £30,000 will be spent on securing Northampton’s Greyfriars bus station as the building edges towards redundancy.
As part of its budget plans, Northampton Borough Council has revealed £35,000 will be spent on late-night security at the bus station from March next year, when the building will no longer be used as an overnight garage by bus companies.
The leader of the authority, Councillor David Mackintosh (Con, Rectory Farm) said: “We need to make sure the building is secured before it is demolished.”
Although bus companies will stop using Greyfriars as a garage from March, services will still run from the building as the town’s new bus station in Sheep Street is not due to open until the beginning of 2014.
Other plans in the council’s budget would also see £150,000 used to build toilets and a food kiosk at the town’s stakepark in Bedford Road.
Councillor Mackintosh said: “These new facilities are needed and they should generate income for the council, meaning they would pay for themselves in two years.”
The authority is also planning to save almost £480,000 by reducing management at the Guildhall along with a further saving of £415,000 by merging some back office services, such as finance and human resources, with other councils.
As part of the budget savings, which will see £1.9 million cut overall, 14 of the least effective CCTV cameras in Northampton could also be switched off and council staff could lose their current free parking privileges in the town centre.
Other plans would see the St Michael’s and Mayorhold car parks stay open 24 hours and new parking season tickets introduced for train users.
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