AFTER more than five years of talking, planning and countless assurances that the bus station would be demolished or moved, the planners and developers have now declared their support for a new bus station to be built on a site in Avenham, outside the Tithebarn Regeneration area.
The proposed site is an uphill climb to most city centre facilities and is no nearer to many than the central bus station, making it unattractive to the disabled and elderly. But bus transport is expected to grow significantly, not least because of the 'ageing' of our population.
The proposed bus station site described as being 'between the Avenham car park and Fishergate' is not suited to large-scale redevelopment because it contains too much of Preston's history, with many buildings of architectural or historical merit.
It is best suited to smaller scale redevelopment that would preserve the best of the past.
No one appears to have considered the poor residents of Avenham who will not only suffer from bus generated pollution but will be separated from local facilities and the city centre by the busy and congested roads carrying a concentration of bus traffic, taxis and cars.
The time has come for the people running Preston to admit they have got it wrong. It was a mistake for them to shape the city's planning policies to suit that development. They were out-manoeuvred.
Ray Johnson,
Save Preston Bus Station Campaign,
Preston.
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