Bus Station Area Regeneration Continues - New Surface Car Park Construction Starts on Monday

Following the award of planning permission last week for the brand new bus station itself and other improvements, there is further progress to report on the regeneration of the bus station area, with construction of the new surface car park getting underway on Monday. The car park will be just across the road from the bus station, on Greyfriars, and will provide 142 parking spaces, including increased disabled parking for the area. Construction should be finished well in time for Christmas, providing another, extremely convenient option those anyone considering coming into town by car during that all-important period for retailers. Charges will boften line with others in town, which we have of course frozen for three successive years in support of shoppers and businesses.

This new facility will provide yet another reason to shop in Bedford, at a time when the town centre is bucking the extremely negtrends wider trends and seeing a fall in vacant retail space and a rise in footfall. There is still a lot to be done to support the town centre in the face of the wider climate and the challenges facing all town centres including the rise of internet and out-of-town shopping. We need to make the most of tremendous developments such as the newly-opened Higgins Bedford and the rich array of events this summer, for example, for the benefit of the town.

In terms of the £8.8 million bus station area regeneration, it's great to see the new car park construction get started. I believe it will be highly valued by shoppers and visitors to town, and it represents more very welcome progress in the task of delivering a bus station area which residents can actually enjoy and take pride in, after decades of waiting and hoping for much-needed regeneration