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Newbury town councillors criticise "flawed" plans to relocate bus station




Application looks to move bus interchange from Market Street to The Wharf

NEWBURY Town Council has objected to "flawed" plans to relocate the bus station from its current home in Market Street to a new site at The Wharf.

West Berkshire Council wants to move the station to facilitate its planned regeneration of Market Street, expected to begin early next year.

However, at a meeting of the town council planning and highways committee on Monday evening, members voted against the plans.

The relocation to the new site, lying south of the library, between Wharf Road and the A339 bypass, will also coincide with the planned redevelopment of The Wharf.

However, the application, which was submitted in November, has already received criticism from historian and Newbury resident David Peacock who cited concerns over traffic congestion as well as access issues.

West Berkshire Council’s own highways officer Bob Turner also raised a number of concerns over the proposal in his highways assessment.

Mr Turner argued that buses and coaches may not be able to carry out all manoeuvres “conflict-free”, also saying that there were concerns over the capacity of the interchange.

The proposal would mean the loss of the parking area where some market traders currently park.

At the meeting, councillors were divided in their opinion of the proposals, with some members criticising the design of the new station and raising concerns over what the move would mean for the future of Newbury market.

Miles Evans (Con, Victoria) said that while he was not opposed to the idea of moving the bus station to The Wharf in principle, he was concerned about the effect it would have on the market traders.

Anthony Pick (Con, St John’s) said: “The officer criticises the application all the way through.

“There are a whole series of objections which makes, in my opinion, this a flawed application.”

Adrian Edwards (Con, Falkland) slammed the design of the new terminal, saying: “The waiting area looks awful.

“It’s worse than what we have got at the moment.

“I’m hoping they will produce something that will look more attractive, it’s going to be near the museum and the library and is going to be something that sticks out like a sore thumb.”

However, Jeff Beck (Con, Clay Hill), who also sits on West Berkshire Council, defended the proposal, saying that the redevelopment of Market Street would provide more bus stops, therefore improving public transport in the town.

He claimed that West Berkshire Council was looking at improving the appearance of the bus station.

Julian Swift-Hook (Lib Dem, Pyle Hill), who had objected in principle to the moving of the bus station, said: “I would propose to object for all of the reasons that we discussed.

“The design of the building is uninspiring to put it mildly.

“It is encouraging from councillor Beck that the design will be revisited but I’m still very concerned about what is going to happen to the market traders.

“We have an established market on Thursdays and Saturdays and if market traders don’t have the facilities then it will certainly affect the market.”

Councillors subsequently voted to object to the application following a failed motion proposed by Mr Evans in favour of the proposal.



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