Have your say on townbus station plans . . .

PEOPLE in Worksop will get the chance to help shape the way their new bus station will look.

A consultation will be held later this year, when Notts County Council will ask local people for their views on the new station and what facilities they would like to see it include.

This follows last week’s announcement that plans for a new bus station are a step closer after the county council bought a building on Watson Road.

That announcement has ended months of speculation over the likely site of the new facility.

The council says work on a design for the bus station is at a very early stage, but a spokesman said it is likely to follow a template set by the stations that have been built in Retford and Newark.

“We need to have a consultation period and hear people’s views on what they would like to see in the bus station,” said Coun Richard Jackson, chairman of the county council’s transport and highways committee.

“This might include discussions on whether people feel a cafe is needed, or how many toilets they feel are necessary, or perhaps what sort of public art they’d like to see.”

“We want the people of Worksop to have a bus station of which they can be proud and which they really feel is theirs.”

“We will be working with stakeholders, including Bassetlaw Council, to get the public’s views on how to progress. We’ll be saying to people: this is what we’re thinking – is it what you were expecting?”

Bassetlaw Council is a partner in the bus station and will contribute towards the running costs.

Coun Simon Greaves, leader of Bassetlaw Council, said it was right that local people will get a chance to influence the facilities available at the new station.

He said: “A new bus station for Worksop is now very much a reality and it’s especially important that people have their say.”

“There is real momentum behind this project and the forthcoming consultation will give residents the opportunity to shape the future of the town.”

“I’m sure that everyone will be keen to see detailed plans as soon as possible.”

The proposals for the new bus station are likely to go before the county council for approval sometime in the autumn.

The council says any consultation with local people is likely to take place shortly afterwards.

If proposals are given the go-ahead, the new bus station will be at the junction of Newcastle Street and Watson Road, adjacent to the Queen Street car park and just a few hundred metres from the current site.

It is likely building would start next summer, and would be completed in 2014.