Council leader orders officers to come up with more realistic cost for Drake Street bus stop reinstatement

Councillor Richard Farnell

The plan to have a bus stop reinstated on Drake Street has been delayed due to the cost of the work being estimated at an astonishing £187,000.

Council Leader Richard Farnell has ordered council officers to find a practical solution at a more realistic cost.

Councillor Farnell said: “I am appalled at the cost and think it should cost nowhere near £180,000 for a bus stop. I have told officers to go away and look at a more practical solution.

“When I was a kid I would get the bus into town and get off at Wet Rake Gardens and walk down Drake Street into town and visit the shops as I passed. That is what everyone did, you wouldn’t do it the other way and walk up Drake Street with all of your shopping. There are not as many shops there now like there used to but there are still a number of independent shops that we should be supporting.

“We didn’t get the tram stop on Drake Street, which would have been a boost, and now buses can’t stop there as well so it is important that we support these businesses where we can. People should be able to get off a bus at Wet Rake Gardens and walk down Drake Street.”

Calls for the bus stop to be reinstated were made following the removal of a stop due to the Metrolink being introduced in Rochdale Town Centre.

More than 400 people signed a petition to bring back the stop last year.

Campaigner Shelly Buxton said: “Our petition received over 400 signatures in two weeks and that wasn’t just from businesses on Drake Street, that was residents and bus drivers who want to see the stop put back. No one was consulted when the stop was taken away and I know a lot of people who want it back.

“We have been fighting for over 12 months on this issue and we won’t stop. Businesses have lost customers due to the loss of that stop and we had to put up with three years of roadworks because of the Metrolink. I will see this stop go ahead.”

Rochdale Council worked with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to produce a plan for the stop.

Mark Widdup, Director of Economy and Environment at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The installation of a new bus stop requires a road traffic order. The traffic order process has already begun and money has been allocated for the project from the budget over the next two years.”