Bus Station Refurbishment and Seldown Car Park

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

BOROUGH OF POOLE

TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY GROUP – THURSDAY 8 JANUARY 2009

REPORT OF HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

BUS STATION REFURBISHMENT AND SELDOWN CAR PARK

1.Information

1.1At the Transportation Advisory Group (TAG) meeting on 14 September 2006 approval was given in principle to the bus station refurbishment scheme, with the final decision delegated to the Portfolio Holder, Chair and Vice-Chair of TAG. This was set up on the basis that flexibility would inevitably be required in dealing with the parties involved (Borough of Poole, Wilts & Dorset and Grosvenor) and the need to ultimately commit to the final scheme without delay.

1.2Unfortunately it was not possible to deliver the refurbishment scheme within the original timescale. However, earlier this year there was renewed impetus to resurrect the scheme, as a result of the ongoing perception of the poor state of the bus station together with Wilts & Dorset’s own requirements for Health and Safety improvements due to a moving bus incident.

1.3Extensive meetings and negotiations have been taking place over the last few months between all of the partners involved and the original architect to develop the scheme. Unfortunately, costs have varied since the original proposals were put forward, and consequently considerable effort has been put into reshaping the scheme such that it retained the ‘iconic’ impact of depicting vitality and activity on the underside of the canopy at an affordable cost.

1.4On this basis recent agreement has been reached between parties on the following:

(a)Main refurbishment scheme:£291,000

Contributions:

Borough of Poole£120,000

Wilts & Dorset£120,000

Grosvenor£ 51,000

(b)Additional borough of Poole elements:

-New bins, seats and steam cleaning£ 20,000

-Raised kerbs for level bus access at all

Stands (funded from Accessibility budget)£ 26,000

(c)Additional Wilts & Dorset elements:

Bus restraint bollards£ 30,000

Borough of Poole funding is provided within the approved 2008/09 Capital Programme.

1.5Refurbishment scheme will consist of:

-Graphic panels on the underside of the outer canopy

-Complete new lighting scheme

-General redecoration

-Sealing of leaking expansion joints

-General de-clutter and rationalisation of signage

1.6In line with the delegations outlined in item 1.1, approval to proceed with a final scheme has been given by the appropriate Members.

2.Seldown Car Park

2.1The timing of this bus station agreement was critical in that it is essential the works are undertaken in the quiet period between New Year and Easter. Within days of the final deadline a significant problem arose with regard to the locating of a number of bus stops out of the bus station. The original proposal of closing Kingland Road to traffic to enable bus stops to be provided here was considered no longer acceptable by the Council due to the potential impact this would have on Town Centre traffic.

2.2Following the decision of the 3 December 2008 Poole and Hamworthy Area Committee to reject the Seldown Bridge road realignment scheme within the Capital Programme, the opportunity was presented to be able to resurface the adjacent Seldown car park. While in its current gravelled state it is only suitable for casual parking, if surfaced then it presented the opportunity to be used as a temporary extension to the bus station for the duration of the works. The offer of this was sufficient for Wilts & Dorset to agree to operate the bus station in this way, thereby reducing the impact of the bus displacement issue.

2.3Commitment to this car park resurfacing scheme required £70,000 of the funding originally allocated for Seldown Bridge – in this instance from developer contributions towards modes of transport other than the car – to be vired towards these bus station accommodation works. The total value of Council’s contribution to the bus station refurbishment would therefore be £210,000.

2.4This decision was required as an urgency item in order to uphold the Council’s commitment to this most important Bus Station scheme. Inability to be able to commit at this stage would not only lose the opportunity to carry out the works at this time but also it was very unlikely that the partnership and joint funding arrangements would be able to be brought together again for this period, thereby significantly increasing the risk of further delay to the refurbishment.

2.5This virement has been approved as an Urgency Item by the Transportation Portfolio Holder and will be reported as part of the overall 2008/09 Capital Programme update to this Group later in the year.

Julian McLaughlin

Head of Transportation Services

Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact:

Steve Tite (01202 262020)

TAG080109T3H

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