This is a rather nice 1950s bus shelter that has sat next to Sheringham Railway station from when it was actually part of the national network and not a heritage railway. It’s not staggeringly beautiful and its glass has fallen out, but the council decided that it was too near the pavement. I tend to find bus stops near the pavement are helpful, but I don’t suppose I fully understand these modern methods that the council like.
In a botched consultation operated by Norfolk County Council they consulted with the locals about how they were going to do mostly what they wanted anyway. The locals were allowed some minor ideas, but this was not a consultation that was designed to consult, it could be argued that it was solely done to tick some boxes.
Was there an easy solution? Of course, put in a new accessible bus shelter, complete the works and maintain the former bus shelter for some other purpose or use.
Paul, a brave and courageous campaigner.
The council could have responded to local opposition by coming to look at what was happening to try and resolve the issue. Well, they could have done, but they didn’t. They did this.
Here is local money being spent for the people.
Sheer incompetence from the council saw metal barriers put up around the site and putting pedestrians at risk. It was only locals warning the council of the sheer danger that led to the council providing fencing.
The town council, as the owners of the bus shelter, had a vote and told the county council to withdraw their bailiffs. This annoyed the council, so they’ve decided to dump the chaos they’ve caused on the local community and scrap the rest of the project. The cost of this work was scheduled to be £580,000, although much of this was ring-fenced from Government funding for bus improvement schemes.
Brave locals fighting for their community have ensured that the bus shelter has been saved. Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has become involved and suggested that perhaps the county council should resolve the mess that now exists. We’ll see what happens now.