A SOMERSET councillor has called for part of the “abysmal” former bus station in Taunton to be turned into a “thriving fast food outlet”.
The bus station on Tower Street closed on March 27, 2020 after 67 years of operation, with Buses of Somerset claiming it was no longer economically viable to maintain the building.
Somerset West and Taunton Council purchased the building from the bus company for £1M, originally aiming to turn it into a temporary car park.
Now Councillor Ian Aldridge – who represents Watchet and Williton – has called for part of the site to be re-purposed for fast food, criticising the council for not doing more to redevelop the site sooner.
Mr Aldridge made his comments at a meeting of the council’s corporate scrutiny committee in Taunton on Wednesday evening (February 2).
He said: “I want to know why we are in this situation where we have got absolutely abysmal facilities.
“We are the owners of the site. We have a building, which is a waiting room and has got office space behind it.
“I don’t know that any attempt has been made to give a short-term lease to somebody on that site. I suspect there could be a thriving fast food facility in that building, which would make changing buses much more comfortable.
“It is appalling that we are left sitting on steel seats, which chill parts of the body in contact with it, while we face prevailing winds, waiting up – in the case of the 28 that goes down to West Somerset – up to an hour.
“It really is a situation which I feel, as the owners of that site, we could have done more about. Portakabins would be better than the bus stop arrangements on Castle Way at the moment.
“I really feel the travelling public have been left high and dry, and when we’re trying to encourage people to use public transport, this is not the way to do it.”
Councillor Marcus Kravis, portfolio holder for asset management and economic development, responded: “Once we had possession, the building wasn’t in a state where you could legally let it.
“Obviously, it wasn’t us that closed the bus station. We have been in an interesting situation since its closure as to what to do with it.
“I do feel that we’ve done everything that we could have really reasonably done, bearing in mind the circumstances.”
Joe Wharton, the council’s assistant director of major and special projects, said the bus station’s fate would become clearer once Somerset County Council’s £163M bus service improvement plan (BSIP) was formally approved.
He told the committee: “The county council submitted a bid, which included a significant amount of money to make the bus station in Taunton a bus station in Taunton again.
“I don’t think the plan is due for a decision until April or May. Once we know the likely outcome of that, we’ll know how much of the funding will go towards the bus station.
“We were on the trajectory of creating a temporary car park on that site. If it’s going to be a fantastic bus station again – and that is the ambition of the county council – then spending lots of money now wouldn’t necessarily be a potentially supportive work.
“As part of the car park services review, we’ve been looking at the costs of turning it into a car park. Once that review is finished, there’ll be a judgement as to whether we want to spend that money or whether we want to wait.
“We’ve had some surveys done of the actual buildings themselves, and if we were to receive a changing places grant, then one part of those buildings would immediately have a good, positive use and we can merge that potential other leases on the site.”
The site has been earmarked for redevelopment as part of the council’s 2040 vision for Taunton, which identifies numerous brownfield sites in and around the town centre where new homes could be provided.
Councillor Marcus Barr – who represents the Rockwell Green ward west of Wellington – suggested holding car boot sales on the bus station site to generate income.
He said: “I’m very surprised that the bus station hasn’t been leased to somebody to have a car boot sale down there on a Sunday morning.
“It brings people into town and generates revenue for the council.”
Mr Kravis replied that conversations had been had about this use but “nothing had panned out”, adding: “We’re fully aware that there’s a piece of land there that we need to sort out, and sort out as quick as we can.”
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