Wigan bus station plans on view
Transport for Greater Manchester has started consulting on a proposed £15.7m bus station in Wigan town centre.
The new bus station would be built on the site of the existing one and contain improved toilet, waiting, shop and cycle parking facilities.
The plans for the new bus station form part of a wider piece of work that is taking place in conjunction with Wigan Council to explore options to further improve accessibility and investment within Wigan town centre.
The consultation period started on 23 November and will run until 20 December 2015, during which time members of the public are invited to consider and provide comments on the proposals. Public events have been arranged at the following times and locations as an opportunity to discuss the initial proposals and designs:
- Grand Arcade Shopping Centre, Saturday 28 November, 10am to 5pm
- Wigan Wallgate Rail Station, Monday 30 November, 3.30pm to 7.30pm, and Thursday 3 December, 8am to 10.30am
- Wigan Market Hall, New Market Street, Friday 4 December, 10am to 5pm
- Wigan Bus Station, Tuesday 8 December, 10am to 5pm, Saturday 12 December, 10am to 5pm
Following the completion of the consultation exercise, consideration will be given to all of the comments received, prior to the submission of a planning application to Wigan Council.
The Wigan bus station development forms part of the wider Greater Manchester Local Growth Deal Programme which is being funded by central government and local contributions.
Work is due to start on site in 2017, with the facility open for use by the end of 2018.
Looks a bit like one of the circulation blocks in those American super-max prisons, apart from cupcake in pink and her mum of course! Just need a few shotgun-wielding prison guards peering down from that circular skylight.
However, good to see these kinds of improved facilities in our towns. The UK 1980s model of bus termini tended towards red-brick brutalism, i.e. a generally half-decent attempt at improvement of the preceding bus depots but blighted by poor lines of sight, layout, and the concomitant threat of petty crime and anti-social behaviour. Tended to allow drunks and other assortments of street scabs to plague law-abiders. CCTV added in the early 1990s helped to an extent but just tended to televise the odd kicking as opposed to be a real deterrent.
By Ady