Lewes’ new MP calls loss of Lewes Bus Station “a tragedy”
James MacCleary, the new MP for Lewes, chose to spend his first Saturday morning on the job meeting campaigners protesting the loss of Lewes Bus Station – calling plans to redevelop the site for commercial housing “the very last thing the town needs”.
The ‘Save Lewes Bus Station’ campaign has seen dozens of concerned Lewes residents, councillors and local community groups come together each Saturday morning in June and July for pop-up protests in front of the site, demanding that the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) refuse to give planning consent to property developer, Generator Group.
Generator Group intend to convert the site into residential flats with no element of affordable housing.
Local people have also condemned Generator’s proposals to replace the bus station with bus stops on the busy nearby Phoenix Causeway as inadequate and highly dangerous.
‘The bigger picture’
Town councillor Adrian Ross, who has helped spearhead the Save Lewes Bus Station campaign and has studied Generator’s plans, says: “Generator Group are proposing bus stops either side of the Phoenix Causeway as a replacement for a dedicated bus station. But it should be clear to anyone that having bus stops on either side of a busy, 30mph, A-road – a road that passengers will have to cross to change buses – is an accident waiting to happen.
“It’s impossible not to imagine school children running straight across the wide, fast road to catch their connecting bus waiting on the other side of the road. It will only be a matter of time until someone is injured or worse.”
Meeting campaigners, James MacCleary MP said: “I think the proposals to replace a purpose-built, off-road bus station that had a brilliant café, and somewhere where drivers could rest and change shifts, are an absolute tragedy.”
He added: “The bigger picture for me is that we need to encourage people to use public transport and we need fewer people driving cars around. Removing bus stations for me, on principle, is a really bad idea. How can we ever hope to transition to a greener, more sustainable transport network if we don’t have the infrastructure to allow bus travel to grow?”
Lodging objection
‘Save Lewes Bus Station’ campaigners are urging residents and all interested parties to lodge objections to the proposals on the SDNPA’s planning website, using the Planning Application Reference Number SDNP/23/02973/FUL.
The SDNPA’s planning committee is expected to make a decision on the site in September.
MacCleary concluded: “Instead of a fit-for-purpose bus station, we’re getting a pretty unaffordable housing development at the very centre of Lewes, which is the very last thing the town needs. Everything that can be done to reverse that plan is worth doing. I’m 100% behind this campaign to save the bus station and I’ll be putting my own objection in to the South Downs National Park.”
Protests against the replacement of Lewes Bus Station will be taking place throughout the summer on Saturday mornings 10.30am-11.30pm. See the ‘Save Lewes Bus Station’ Facebook page for details.
See more on how you can object to the Generator Group’s proposals on this campaign leaflet here.
Please can you ask our new MP to speak to the Labour Transport minister and remind her of “Bus Back Better” and the fact that it is government policy to protect bus stations and ask her (Louise Haigh) to reinforce this with her planning colleagues?