It’s not too late to reverse decision
With the local MPs now supporting the relocation of the bus station, it has become a case of those who don’t use it telling those who do what’s good for them.
Has nobody who makes these decisions understood that the very nature of shopping is changing to online and shops as we know will demise like factories, pubs, etc.
How many persons who use the bus station become footfall shoppers? Who if they have to walk from the relocated terminus will think twice about visiting the Grosvenor Shopping Centre? How many pensioners to escape their houses in inclement weather, catch a bus and walk into the shopping mall just to be in a warm environment?
It’s not too late to reverse this crazy decision before the council tax payers are landed with a huge long term liability for years to come. Northampton’s bus station is one of the best, being completely enclosed from the weather while waiting for a transfer from services including National Express. Why throw away that accommodation for standing out in all weathers? But perhaps if our MPs and local councillors were to experience these conditions the decision would be different?
It took the demise of the trains using Bridge Street crossing to solve the problem of the hold-ups while for years NBC came up with scheme after scheme.
C Osborne,
Hillside Way, Weston Favell, Northampton.
The town can’t afford to pay
WILL Messrs Binley and Ellis tell me why they are intent on knocking down the bus station? They both say they do not like it and that it is ugly. Does that mean we get rid of ugly MPs too?
Keep the bus station, it more than serves its purpose. The shops in the Grosvenor will lose money, the elderly people will not be able to shop in town, especially if they have to wait in the rain and the cold.
Why not improve the lighting, paint the bus station, improve the security and use the money saved to switch on more street lights?
Finally, I do not think the council is qualified to spend so much of the town’s money on a project such as this. The town can’t afford it.
Mrs J Cox,
Spinney Hill Road, Parklands, Northampton.
Ugly argument doesn’t cut it
It seems many of the people in favour of the demolition of the bus station are basing their argument on the building’s ugliness. Right, let’s take this further and get rid of all ugly buildings, starting with much of the modern part of the General Hospital, then Sol Central, both of which rate as zero on the design scale and are located in the town centre. Ah, but the hospital has a valued function. Oh but so does the bus station . . . argument over. Don’t base any argument on ugliness because it just doesn’t cut.
We must also face the fact the days of town centre shopping areas are numbered. In a few years will Milton Keynes Shopping Centre be dead? Our bets are on yes. Internet is the way many shop these days, and as us older, less computer-wise folk pop our clogs, then you can say goodbye to retail shops, apart from maybe a few clothes and shoe outlets. They will just not be needed. Otherwise we must query why so many retailers these days offer so much value online. So why attempt to build more shops? Maybe town centres should become residential areas from where workers can commute to their employment sites on the outskirts of the towns. These are sobering thoughts.
David and Heather Major,
Peninsular Close, Wootton, Northampton.
There’s little glory to be had
I refer to the front page headline MPs: Knock down bus station, once again our local MPs have missed the point in demanding the demolition of the bus station because it is ugly, thus clearly demonstrating they never use it to catch buses.
I very much doubt if anyone wishes to keep it because of its looks, rather than the fact it is functional and in the right place. Any failings are due to the council’s continued lack of proper maintenance. Will this situation continue with the proposed new bus station? I am sure it will.
It seems councillors of all parties need to embark on grandiose schemes to satisfy their inflated egos, whereas there is little glory to be had from keeping existing projects in good working order. I have no doubt this fiasco will go ahead, without any legally binding commitment from Legal & General to immediately expand the Grosvenor Centre once the bus station is demolished.
When we have an inadequate bus station and no expansion, our worthy councillors and MPs can go to their cars in their private car park and drive home leaving the rest of us in the cold and rain.
Trevor Pinfold,
High Street, Blisworth.
Can the costs be justified?
I was interested to read the comments made in the Chron (February 4) by our local MPs, Brian Binley and Michael Ellis, concerning the demolition of Greyfriars Bus Station.
It may indeed be ugly and resemble a shed or warehouse, but it is functional and shoppers are protected from the vagaries of the weather when they leave the Grosvenor Centre shops. If, and when, Greyfriars is demolished and the long awaited new shopping centre eventually constructed, will our MPs and local councillors use the shops and trek their purchases outside and over the road to the new bus station, braving the weather and traffic?
In a period of austerity when we are all expected to be prudent in our spending, are the demolition of Greyfriars and the cost of construction of a new shopping centre and bus station justified? There are plenty of empty shops in the town at the moment, will new buildings be enough to attract new businesses? Would it not be sensible to refurbish those parts of the present bus station which need it and make the interior lighter?
Mike Quigley,
Lanercost Walk, Northampton.
Consultation not long enough
Re the letters about the bus station, I agree the consultation period should have been for a week, two days was not long enough for such a big decision. All the bus drivers and managers should have been asked for their opinion as they are the ones most involved with this as well as the public.
If the bus station maintenance was kept up there wouldn’t be a problem as there is now. The new interchange cannot work as the area is not big enough. Sainsbury’s profits will go down, no one will shop there then walk to the new interchange with shopping.
The councillors haven’t got a clue, they just want to carry on spending money. So much has changed in our town over the years, it’s not the Northampton I grew up knowing. I know things have to change for the better but our councillors have got it wrong again.
The area people keep suggesting for a new station on the car park next to the court cannot be used as the cellars are still there from the houses that were demolished on that site.
Why extend the shopping centre when there are so many empty shops already in our town? Just a refurb would be enough.
Mrs Stewart,
The Knoll, Brixworth.
Expressing views
Doug Buckle (February 6) should not confuse a majority of people writing to expressing the view the current bus station should be retained with a majority of people actually wanting to keep it. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that people with a complaint are more likely to express a view than those who support a position, the silent majority.
What correspondents wanting to keep Greyfriars forget is it isn’t just a bus station; it’s also an empty office block and a car park with a leaking roof. Except from the south, access is poor with many people preferring to cross a busy road and enter via an illegal route rather than use the long underpasses.
I wonder how many of people now wanting to keep the bus station have written over the years complaining about it?
Max Lang,
Winchester Road, Northampton.
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
richard robinson
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 01:57 PM23 million to improve the bus station wheres the estimates you must be joking iam a decorator so please can i qoute for redecoration only 22 million a saving of 1 million not bad is it also where would the 2ooo jobs that would be created work if the extension includes 40 new shops it works out at 50 jobs in each shop bit labour intensive arent they
Slashgrind
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 07:05 PMThe bus station is an iconic 70's building that could be given a makeover and updated with a contemporary interior at a far lesser cost .... 60's 70's buildings, fashion, home furniture are now becoming super cool to the new retro generation, beware this is the same to younger generations as knocking down the victorian town centre is to older generations.
jimorourke
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 02:19 PMIf they get rid of our bus station I think a lot of people will not even bother to come into the town but will probably use their local shopping centre ie Kingsthorpe, Weston Favell etc. There's not much in town that you can't get locally. So that's not going to help the Grosvenor Centre redevelopment in any way.
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