Bus station to be moved!
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May seem a red herring but comments about the possibility of moving the Bus Station have been spinning around for the past couple of week. It appears that the Council have a consideration to moving the bus station to the WaterWorld car park. Bus drivers are now talking about the possibility.
If this was to occur the whole dynamic of the town would change. Perhaps the Town Centre Forum should ask for a formal response from the Council.It is really strange as the shop element of the building belongs to a property company and not the Council.. I hope someone can pull info from the Council soon.
Any Councilors reading the thread prepared to make comment@99DylanJones 16489 wrote:
It is really strange as the shop element of the building belongs to a property company and not the Council.. I hope someone can pull info from the Council soon.
Any Councilors reading the thread prepared to make commentJust when you think it was safe to go back into the forums. Do these bus drivers mean ACTUALLY move the bus station? Like in a giant sling? It wouldn’t make sense because the buses would all be in King Street. You couldn’t make it up. Or maybe you did.
I have worked, on average, six days a week, except for holidays, as a Hackney Cab driver from the Taxi Rank on King Street in Wrexham for what will be 31 Years in January. That said it is evident that the current bus station is not fit for purpose in it’s present state. Too many buses competing for too few parking spaces with inconsiderate drivers waiting illegally on the highway in the hope of finding a parking space on the area reserved for bus parking, causing traffic jams by their actions. Buses are only allowed to stay a maximum of 15 minutes before having to move on, that does not happen. Some buses are parked for much longer than that and in some cases are used as a mobile rest room by drivers of a few companies. I would like to see the present bus station demolished and returned to how it used to be and the road infrastructure returned to it’s previous format. As far as moving the bus station to the Waterworld site is concerned it would not be a bad idea in principle as long as the site was large enough to accommodate all the necessary bus services. It would in my opinion necessitate the demolition of all the buildings on the site at present i.e. Waterworld, 31 Chester Street, The Law Courts, The Memorial Hall and the Police Station. It would be a a perfect site in terms of area, but would it be the ideal location geographically to serve the town centre? I am not totally convinced, but it could work.
The story I have heard is the crown buildings are coming down and the bus station is moving there. something to do with excessive rents on King street.
I posted this on another thread about a month ago.
What a complete load of tosh!! Plans have already been submitted for moving the bus station to the library [ssh!] the library is moving to waterworld, Crown Buildings is moving an inch to the left, Island Green is claiming independence from Wales, the Racecourse is being let out to a farmer for grazing and the war memorial is just plain moving.
It appears that the Welsh Government have indicted that there will be guidance out shortly about the restrictions on expenditure on capital projects and a freeze on none essential borrowing. This is casing Wrexham Council a problem with the original pans to demolish Waterworld and build on the Crown Buildings site on Chester Road.
These restrictions are to be in force until 2020 when county reorganisations are complete. The draft guidance will apply to Councils that either voluntarily merge or forced at a later stage.
Now this is happening the viability of moving the bus station now seems a realistic proposition.
Bus Station to Waterworld car park (no cost to Council) — Waterworld car parking to move to Ground floor of Peoples Market (no cost to Council as the ground floor was designed as car park) – Peoples Market moved to the other two markets (no cost to Council as it takes up empty space) – art centre move to bus station (no cost to Council as they own the waiting area space) – Police station to Art Centre (income from renting to Police) – new housing and retail shops on Police Station site Council income from Section 106 and sale/lease of land) – Memorial Hall to be refurbished and take on other community activity from current Arts Centre. (Council passes building to charity that applies for grants — no cost to Council).
Some people may see some of this as pie in the sky — ask any member of the Council Executive which of the above is potentially going to happen and which is fiction?
The Council consulted on there expenditure budget they did not consult on their plans for capital receipts.@99DylanJones 16508 wrote:
It appears that the Welsh Government have indicted that there will be guidance out shortly about the restrictions on expenditure on capital projects and a freeze on none essential borrowing. This is casing Wrexham Council a problem with the original pans to demolish Waterworld and build on the Crown Buildings site on Chester Road.
These restrictions are to be in force until 2020 when county reorganisations are complete. The draft guidance will apply to Councils that either voluntarily merge or forced at a later stage.
Now this is happening the viability of moving the bus station now seems a realistic proposition.
Bus Station to Waterworld car park (no cost to Council) — Waterworld car parking to move to Ground floor of Peoples Market (no cost to Council as the ground floor was designed as car park) – Peoples Market moved to the other two markets (no cost to Council as it takes up empty space) – art centre move to bus station (no cost to Council as they own the waiting area space) – Police station to Art Centre (income from renting to Police) – new housing and retail shops on Police Station site Council income from Section 106 and sale/lease of land) – Memorial Hall to be refurbished and take on other community activity from current Arts Centre. (Council passes building to charity that applies for grants — no cost to Council).
Some people may see some of this as pie in the sky — ask any member of the Council Executive which of the above is potentially going to happen and which is fiction?
The Council consulted on there expenditure budget they did not consult on their plans for capital receipts.Whilst all of these ideas are interesting and may well happen, the idea that there is no cost to the Council from the steps outlined is wishful thinking. At present, the Waterworld Car Park has a capacity of 417 Parking spaces with a tariff of £4.00 for over 2 hours worth of Parking. To close this and compensate for the revenue loss with the ground floor of the Peoples Market would be a poor swop. Of course, the reconfiguration of the unit would also be hugely expensive. Secondly, whilst the Peoples Market may be the most threadbare of the Markets, it also has the most stalls/shops. The rent take from this Market is still impressive and the Market could easily be revived with a few subtle changes. The idea that the units could be redeployed is also hopeful.
I take your point that some moves could occur and some probably make real sense.
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