CW&W Offers Free Bus Shelters for Local Community Groups

Cheshire West and Chester Council is looking for good homes for five bus shelters.

The shelters are located at the former Chester Bus Exchange, Princess Street, Chester. The site will become a new public square as part of the Chester Northgate development. The Council would like to hear from any local community group or organisation who might be able to use a bus shelter and would like to be considered for one.

There will be no charge to organisations as long as they have a suitable space with appropriate hard standing, details can be found on the Expression of Interest form available online. The shelters will be awarded to projects offering the maximum benefit to their local community in the Cheshire West and Chester Council area.

Lisa Harris, Director of Place Strategy, Cheshire West and Chester Council said: "We have had a few requests for the old bus shelters so the fairest option is to consider all requests together. We are eager to prepare the site for the start of construction therefore we are keen to hear from groups by 15 December so that we can find new uses for the shelters."

Five shelters are suitable for removal and reuse; unfortunately it is not structurally possible to reuse the other shelters therefore they will be demolished in the new year. The shelters will be transported free of charge but installation is the responsibility of the organisation receiving them.

Local Community groups are invited to complete an Expression of Interest form at: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/BusShelters/ closing date 15 December.

One Parish Councillor has already suggested giving the offer a miss as "No wonder CWaC want to give these shelters away, as I recall they are very ugly yellow structures which need quite a large space to stand on, ie not suitable for a narrow pavement such as the stop near the end of Hockenhull Lane."

Ed: We are rightly encouraged to recycle things rather than automatically scrapping and disposing of them in landfill sites and in this respect CW&C are to be complemented on their forward thinking. However what do residents, or local organisations, think about opportunities to reuse these shelters, if not for their original purpose, what other use might they to put to?