Drive for station moves up a gear

At a recent meeting of the council’s policy and resources committee, chief executive Liam Hannaway presented a report on the current situation and said “little progress had been made to date”.

However, a number of potential sites have now been whittled down to two - Kenlis Street and Downshire Place/Scarva Street - and these are being put forward as priority options to the chief executive of Translink who is being urged to “actively progress the matter” along with Transport Minister, Conor Murphy.

The results of a survey commissioned by the council are also being sent toTranslink after corporate marketing student Lianne McConville presented her findings to councillors at a recent meeting.

Chief amongst the findings was student concern at the danger of getting off the bus at both the Downshire Arms Hotel and at Church Square, with a number favouring a location at the Southern Area College on the Castlewellan Road. The survey also showed a number of elderly people were in favour of a bus station being established in the centre of the town.

Following the presentation, three sites were identified - Kenlis Street, Downshire Place/Scarva Street and Church Square/Laws Lane, Banbridge, with the east side of the town considered the best location due to direct buses from Dublin not having to travel through the town.

It was felt the location of any bus station should be as central as possible and within walking distance of the schools and the town centre, while there was some concern that Kenlis Street site was quite small and could cause congestion.

Some councillors felt more research was needed on the future needs for a bus station and it was also highlighted that the site at Church Square/Laws Lane had been designated for sporting facilities, so would not be suitable.

After a proposal by Councillor Joan Baird, it was recommended to try to gain support from NILGA (Northern Ireland Local Government Association) in the drive for a bus station for Banbridge.

Councillor Dessie Ward suggested the council write to the Department of Regional Development, inviting an official to visit Banbridge on a week day afternoon to experience the congestion when school buses are being boarded.

He also suggested the visiting official should “try to drive from one end of the town to another” on a Friday afternoon, to experience the problems at first hand.