Talks are taking place on the future of public transport provision in Lichfield city centre.
The current bus station is likely to disappear if plans for city centre redevelopment are given the green light by councillors next week.
The mixed use development would see housing, a cinema, restaurants, bars and offices constructed on the Birmingham Road site.
Indicative drawings of what the scheme could look like show the bus station area being replaced by public open space and housing.
Cllr Doug Pullen, leader of Lichfield District Council, told a cabinet meeting last week that the future of bus use was high on the agenda when it came to the new development – but admitted the answers were not yet in place.
“As part of our aspirations we want people to be arriving by public transport, bike and by foot.
“Equally, people living or going to the cinema next to a bus station isn’t the best experience when arriving in a small cathedral city.
“We are working closely with Staffordshire County Council who have responsibility public transport to ensure we have a proper way forward.
“Do we have an answer yet? No. Are we actively working with Staffordshire County Council to work out what that answer looks like? Yes we are.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
“Great opportunities”
Previous proposals for the site when it was earmarked for the failed Friarsgate redevelopment had looked to create a transport interchange to link the train station and bus station.
But while a draft layout appears to show public open space stretching out across the current Birmingham Road, Cllr Pullen told Lichfield Live such a move to create a pedestrian area was not in the remit of the current scheme.
“The are great opportunities to do something along the Birmingham Road, but they sit outside of the current scope of the project.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
A final decision on whether to push ahead with the redevelopment plans will be made at a meeting of Lichfield District Council on 22nd February.
I would suggest that the council sorts out the important issue of public transport provision before they go any further with their development plans for this site. Bus services for the many need to take priority over big profits for the few. Sidelining bus transport in favour of yet more housing is hardly the way to tackle climate change.
People coming from Burntwood to Lichfield are already limited in their travel options thanks to the half-hearted provision of only a partial footpath along the A5190. Let’s not add to that by diverting bus services away from what is currently a conveniently situated bus station.
I’m clearly missing something in these plans, because surely the best place for the bus station is exactly where it is? Nice and convenient as part of a transport interchange so people can transfer to and from the cross city train line with ease and with easy access to the city centre and the aspirational cinema. If this doesn’t sit well with the proposed housing estate, then just perhaps it’s that proposed housing estate that’s in the wrong place and would benefit from relocation elsewhere.
The Council likes to refer to this area as the ‘Gateway’. Any town or city worth the name would need a modern bus station to be part of that Gateway.
Having waited for so many years to have some sort of update to the current Bus Station we now have some decent seats, instead of the old ones that were so low it was like sitting on the floor, some thing that looks decent for our visitors by coach,
but we don’t mention the so called toilets.
And now within 12 months of being completed, and many thousands of pounds spent, it would seem it is due to be ripped up and replaced on the whole by houses, and move the Bus Station to Who Knows
It would appear that someone on the Council doesn’t like buses, or maybe doesn’t like the kind of people who arrive on buses. Cllr Pullen: “Equally, people living or going to the cinema next to a bus station isn’t the best experience when arriving in a small cathedral city.” What is that meant to mean? The current location is the only sensible location for a bus station. It’s no more of a eyesore than the train station, and it is an essential part of the transport infrastructure.
I’m speechless.
The bus station should be modernized, made more attractive and left where it is, near the train station. The houses can go somewhere else if that’s the issue.
It’s quite simple why LDC want to move the bus station. It’s because they can’t get enough flats on the site without doing so. It’s a complete and utter disgrace. The bus station is perfectly located opposite the train station. It just needs a modern building/facilities, i.e purpose built, cafe etc and it would see far more use.
LDC always seem to think if something isn’t well used get rid of it. How about improving it LDC? It’s needed, but it needs improving!
I totally agree with the previous comments. The current situation is the best one for the bus station, close to all Lichfield has to offer visitors and residents. Next door to a cinema is ideal. Being so close to the railway station is also a bonus for anyone needing transport links. Any proposal to relocate the bus station would be madness, and very unpopular I believe especially as a recent revamp has been costly.
If smartening up the area and bringing in a redesign then I agree the bus station has to go. Having big vehicles parking up is polluting, an eyesore, noisy etc. It doesn’t go well with an attractive area for people to visit and spend time. Move it somewhere else.
After the debacle of the original proposals and the waste of money way back then i’d suggest lichfield district council thought a little harder. why? well there’s the original waste of money, the money that will now be wasted on possibly removing the ‘revamped’ bus station to where…who knows as the council don’t. Is the communal space the same as the communal space next to the council offices? A green space with no seating and a path cutting through and a few additional carparking spaces? My partner is disabled and the bus station being where it is seems to be in a reasonable place both for access to the town centre and to the train station. It seems the council think of the money they are wasting as monopoly money to be frittered away at their convenience with no thought or genuine plan at all. What a truly absurd thing to have read and for the powers that be to find themselves saying. Imagine it…’We shall spend this money building all these things and erm figure the rest out later’ Shameful i say.
So where should buses terminate, on Fradley Aerodrome,or perhaps Wall Island. Lichfield needs a bus terminal in the centre and is at an ideal spot at the present opposite the city station
What planet are these people on why did we vote for them perhaps we can change thier the minds at the next election
The bus station is now quite attractive after many years of no where for coaches
How nice to see the children arriving safely by coach and walking to the garrick. With nicer days ahead there will be coaches arriving with visitors how convenient to park for Lichfield. There is enough house building in lichfield and how boring let people enjoy lichfield. I suggest that the council start using the public transport and understand how the bus station is used..
Confused! So let’s spends loads of money on refurbing present Bus Station ,new WC,s and all….now let’s dig it up again…where is the new bus station going to be built?
Of course there is plenty of room to Build yet more Ticky Tacky look the same Houses or Retirement Homes….Who are these people who are making these totally brainless decisions? …
Lichfield definitely needs to keep there bus station, so the Council better make sure we have one, because of a lot elderly people rely on the services around Lichfield and visitors use the all of the different routes around Staffordshire and surrounding areas.
More Houses, More Money for LDC to waste…
We don’t need a bus station. May I suggest something more radical: retirement flats!
So they don’t know where else the bus station would go, but they have decided that a week from now they will make their decision on whether to build over the existing bus station. What is wrong with these people? It’s a waste of time to take a decision on building over the bus station if you don’t know where else to put it. If they decide on the 22nd to build over the existing bus station but then no alternative location can be found, then what? Do they just build over it regardless which would be very stupid, or do they waste all the money on planning to build over it?
How about leaving the bus station alone and simply not building housing next to it?
Bus station is way to big, seems a parking area for them to sit with their engines running belching out diesel fumes. All it needs is a bus lane for dropping off and picking up along with good time keeping etc. saying that I prefer diesel fumes to retirement homes any day. When do we get to see the master plan ?
I agree with Clare on the need for decent public transport. The comment on footpaths resonates with me too. Those of us in the villages sometimes don’t have either, making cars essential. Not at all helpful when it comes to climate change and the environment. The bus station should remain where it is for all the reasons others have stated. As for Bob’s question about why we voted for the current council – some of us didn’t!
The bus station is in exactly the right place….we do not need yet more housing in Lichfield. What on earth are these councillors thinking, I strongly suggest they rethink this ridiculous idea.
We need radical thinking from LDC. Move the bus station to the site of the Friary ruins (it’s just a load of old rubble) and put in a moving walkway (like they have at airports) along St John Street to link with the train station. Or go a stage further and demolish the train station too; make people walk into town from Trent Valley station. Pedestrianise Birmingham Road outside the fire station and force cars to use At John Street, Cherry Orchard and Sturgeons Hill/ Rotten Row to get back to Church Street and Greenhill. We also need a congestion zone and 20mph speed limits encompassing the whole of Lichfield, including residential areas such as Boley Park and Darwin Park and Steethay. Turn the Co-op and Waitrose car parks into park and ride car parks with one minibus every 3 hours but none at weekends.
What a load of rubbish Lichfield needs a bus Station it’s a city people come here for the day can’t they think of that T. Y. former Lichfield resident
Expectations have to be higher. The bus station looks terrible. Can’t believe people are saying it’s ok.
Bar #P Ditto all the above reasons why getting rid of the bus station would not be in the interests of local people and visitors.
Doesn’t the bus station and car park make three spires shopping centre (and specifically the Debenhams building) more attractive to prospective future tenants? I don’t think we should be getting rid of either. Maybe just modernise them.
LEAVE the Bus station where it is, next to the train station, it’s a no brainer.
The council in this city are again taking our city backwards. A cinema is not the answer to fill this area and neither is housing. You have to dig deeper and be more original. Take Lichfield forward not stuck in the past.
MrMr buses arrive in Lichfield bus terminal and it could be an hour before they leave,your scheme would need a huge layby to work
Tonedeaf District Council to refuse free hearing test.
Leave bus station where it is , near rail station. Could be smaller. The council have only just spent thousands of our money on an upgrade. Not going back to otherside of road as in an original plan with more chopping down trees and more chaos at the end of Station Road. Yes it’s a road not a car park.
I cannot believe LDC are even considering moving the bus station elsewhere! Surely it is obvious that our City should have its trains and buses close together, so that people can use both easily!
The bus station should remain where it is along with the adjacent parking. The multi story car park should be rebuilt to better specification. The council offices should be totally demolished and replaced with ornamental gardens. If we don’t need parking and a bus station what do we need a council for?
Doug Pullen says, “As part of our aspirations we want people to be arriving by public transport …” Then he advocates moving the bus station from the ideal location! Just improve the bus station at its current site.
Maybe I’m a cynic but I think the decision to scrap the bus station was made a fair time ago. Remember the illuminated signs that were refused planning permision a while ago for no logical reason. Maybe the reason was because it had already been decided to scrap it.
I am beyond disappointed with the councils vision for Lichfield. A sports centre or not a sports centre, a pitch and putt course that may go to be replaced with something, the Beacon Street development that was initially refused permision and then giving planning permision, the friarsgate development that makes absolutely no logical sense. Are the planners just coming up with random ideas to justify their jobs?
(P.S. Just leave the bus station in its current ideal location)
IMO the bus station’s use of space in its current location is incredibly inefficient. I’ve not seen more than 4 busses there at any one time despite there being room for 8 and parking for 8 coaches. Surely we could rationalise the use of the space, allocate the remainder to the development plan and have the best of both worlds.
Leave it where it is, if you hadn’t used the lorry Park by the clock tower to build houses or the plot the police station was on for carparking they could have been used. If you lose the bus terminus you will kill Lichfield as a place to visit without a car and not there is not enough carparking, use the site the multistorey is on that as you said a long time ago it had to come down DO NOT KILL OFF PUBLIC S ACCESS JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT
Lichfield District Council’s Local Plan Strategy 2008-2029 contains a Strategic Priority “to reduce the need for people to travel … by increasing the opportunities for travel using sustainable forms of transport by securing improvements to public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure.” The Local Plan Review 2018-2040 also has a Strategic Priority that includes “the promotion of Lichfield city’s role as a public transport interchange.” By intending to distance the bus station from the City railway station LDC would seem to be acting counter to its own strategic policies, inviting a judicial review. Does it really want this? Surely keeping the bus station at its current location should be the starting point around which the development of the rest of the Birmingham Road site is designed.
The bottom line is we have an incompetent Council (particularly in the planning department) led by an utterly clueless leader in Cr Pullen. Lichfield wake up and get these idiots out! I’m not a Labour or Lib Dem supporter (I actually vote Tory most of the time) but even I’ve had enough of this shower now!
Leave the bus station alone. We need the station so people from outside can visit our beautiful city. Not everyone has a car. Its also very convenient for catching the train. Surely we don’t need any more housing in view of the amount already being undertaken.
How can the council make a decision, when there are no drawings or models what is going to be built
Will it be left to the developers what the buildings will look like, what they decide to build
Nothing decided where car parking or bus station being relocated to, or is that why they want to close golf course, put it there then say not being used so build houses on it
Last year it was sorting car parking out also disabled parking, and pedestrian areas which we already have but not enforced, have not heard anything or seen anything, about what was decided, nothing then mentioned about extra parking required for demolition of multi storey car park
So I think that toy as been dropped and now got a new toy for Christmas the Birmingham Road Site. Cinema’s are the in thing now, but all towns are now doing them,
Cannock is now going to do one, but they have 30 million pounds to spend on their town centre
Burntwood was going to have a cinema and bowling which would not of cost us anything, on the London and Cambridge site by Morrisons
But all towns around objected, so went to a Labour government inquiry and was thrown out by John Prescott, said it was to good for Burntwood, didn’t hear any labour councillors supporting it for us
You’ve got to admire them taking on the task of redeveloping or relocating the bus station for the future.
In the meantime, however, could someone from the council offices (situated within a stone’s throw of said bus station) perhaps arrange for the destination boards on the shelters to be secured and made accurate, for the litter to be picked up and for the two public toilet standalone unisex cubicles to be repaired? Try looking after the one we’ve got would be a good start to any redevelopment plan.
In answer to P we have got old polluting noisy buses, because the county council have allowed the bus companies to use them now that they can’t use them where there are clean air zones. Public transport is supposed to be cleaner than private cars.
The county council supposed to be cutting down on pollution but it does not seem so, letting them use old buses, other counties have a lot less polluting buses