Plea for rethink on future of Shrewsbury bus station

It has been suggested that Shrewsbury may soon have to manage without a central bus station, as implied within the Big Town Plan, with smaller stations operating from park and ride sites.

The proposals were described as “aspirational” by the council’s highways boss Councillor Steve Davenport, who said he believes they should look to rethink transport to optimise greener urban travel.

But Shrewsbury Civic Society’s Byron Grainger-Jones said he thinks having no central station would be damaging to the town for tourists and residents alike.

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He said: “In my opinion it is necessary to have a central bus station which is readily accessible to Shrewsbury town centre, to the railway station, to connect with other parts of Shropshire, to the West Midlands and to the UK generally.”

Difficult

Mr Grainger-Jones added: “I think that Shrewsbury should have a modern, well-designed central bus station, ideally served by electric buses which operate from outside the town and from park and ride locations.

“Indeed, it might be argued that small secondary bus stations could operate from selected park and ride sites, whereas a central bus station should fulfil a national and regional expectation – as well as a local one – through a series of travel shops.

“Removing it deprives bus users of a convenient interchange between buses and will make any intervention to deal with climate change by switching car trips to bus much more difficult.

“I earnestly hope that Shropshire Council will look again at its proposals for the riverside and will perhaps think of building a new and attractive central bus station in the locality, before the existing bus station is demolished.”