Bedford Bus Station Regeneration- Plans Unveiled

Bedford's decades-long wait for a new, improved bus station is nearly over, with a planning application for a major regeneration of the site now submitted.

Lib Dem Mayor Dave Hodgson this week unveiled the plans, which are available on the Council website and will shortly be available to view at locations around Bedford town centre.

Bedford Bus station is the gateway to Bedford town centre for many thousands of visitors but the area has long been considered an eyesore in severe need of improvement and regeneration. Now, in spite of the extraordinarily tough financial climate for Bedford Borough Council, the authority has put together an £8.8 million fund through savings and efficiencies to ensure the development will take place.

The project has been designed in partnership with bus station owners Stagecoach, and includes an attractive new bus station building with improved facilities for passengers and a new Travel Centre offering bus and train tickets as well as a range of other services.

Dave said: "Bedford bus station area lets our town centre down and has been in sore need of improvement for decades. I remember this being widely recognised decades ago, and it is a message that comes across loud and clear today when I talk to people right across the Borough.

"The easy thing to do would be to simply wait for rosier economic times to come and enable the redevelopment to take place at some point in the future, after so many years of waiting. However, I want the very best for Bedford Borough and no-one can claim that the current bus station offers the best for local residents and visitors to our town. That's why we have worked to identify savings, underspends and efficiencies to make this crucial redevelopment possible, in defiance of the economic conditions.

"The regeneration of this area is already happening, with the refurbishment of Allhallows multi-storey car park underway and construction to begin shortly on the new surface car park across the road on Greyfriars.

"The planning application for the brand new bus station area marks a major milestone for this project, and I hope people will take the opportunity to look at the plans and take part in the consultation in the coming weeks as we work to deliver a gateway to Bedford Town Centre that we can all be proud of."

In addition to the new bus station and Travel and Tourism centre, the wider bus station regeneration also includes:

• Refurbishment of Allhallows multi-storey car park. Includes major modernisation of the public toilets with improved disabled and baby change facilities.
• New shopfronts, including new windows and doors which will improve the appearance and disabled access to shops in Greenhill Street, below the car park.
• Construction of new surface car park on Greyfriars
• Improvements on the north side of the bus station area, in front of the car park, with new paving, seating and other features.