Bus plan is stuck in rut (From Stroud News and Journal)

Bus plan is stuck in rut

LONDON Road car park could be the only hope for a decent bus station in Stroud when Merrywalks is closed for work on the cinema.

Stroud Town Council which has been pushing for the site since it emerged the current bus station was set to go.

The idea was originally dismissed in a report by consultants Halcro drawn up two years ago, which said the site was too small for buses to turn.

But the survey of suitable sites in Stroud did not come up with any other practicable ideas.

Time is now running out as the current bus station is set to close at the end of next month. Now town councillors in Stroud are considering seeking a second opinion.

"We can't have the perfect thing," said Cllr John Marjoram, the mayor during a meeting of the council's finance and policy committee on Monday.

"And until somebody starts putting up alternative ideas we will just be stuck in a rut."

Cllr Bernard Brown asked: "Why do the buses need to turn round anyway? "They could come in one end and go out the other, that's what happens elsewhere."

Cllr Kevin Cranston, chairman of the committee, pointed out that space could potentially be saved by housing a waiting room and toilets in the ground floor of the adjoining multi-storey car park.

"The problem with traffic engineers is they want a perfect solution," he said. "And that's fine if you are starting from scratch.

"But we've got to find something that will work and time is not on our side." Cllr Cranston agreed to speak with Cllr Nigel Studdert-Kennedy, Stroud District Council's cabinet member for culture, development and regeneration to find out what research he had already done and report back to full council in two weeks.

He said: "We need to investigate what has already been done, by whom, and where we can get an independent study."