Safer Bus Stop Project

Update April 2024

The Bus shelter at the Village Stores Ifold is now complete and Phase 1 of this project is complete. The second phase to buiold a Shelter in Plasitow is now in progress, the shleter is currently being built away from site.

Update September 2021

On 23rd June 2021, the Parish Council resolved to apply for the 2021/22 New Homes Bonus (NHB) grant funding from Chichester District Council (CDC) to continue the Safer Bus Stop Project (Phase One) of installing a shelter in Plaistow and an improved shelter and entrance rejuvenation at The Drive, Ifold. This was the Parish Council’s successful NHB application in 2020/21 (as detailed below). The Parish Council has three years to spend the grant funding and can apply for NHB funds in relation to the same project over multiple years.

On 15th September 2021, a special meeting of CDC's Grants and Concessions Panel considered the application and were supportive of the bid. Consequently, up to £2,158 will be available to Plaistow and Ifold Parish Council to be used in relation to this project. 

The letter is attached below. The Parish Council will sign the Agreement at its full meeting on 13th October. 

**UPDATE**

The Parish Council is pleased to confirm that the Chichester District Council's Grants and Concession Panel was supportive of its application to the New Homes Bonus (Parish Allocations) and up to £3,924.72 will be available to Plaistow and Ifold Parish Council to build the two bus shelters. The confirmation letter, Agreement and application can be found below, attached to this notice.

This notice will be updated with details of the project as it progresses.

**ORIGINAL NOTICE (Sept)**

Residents of Plaistow village, who use the local bus service regularly, have written to Plaistow and Ifold Parish Council asking that a bus shelter and seating be provided on the grass verge next to the telephone kiosk outside the Sun Inn.

One of the Parish Council’s ongoing projects is to provide safer bus stops throughout the Parish to increase the use of the school and other public bus services. The sites identified for Phase One (1) of the project have been specifically identified by residents as local priorities.

Plaistow village does not currently benefit from any bus shelters whatsoever. The bus to Horsham services the village four (4) times per week and is frequently used by between six (6) and eight (8) elderly residents (80 years or older). The bus uses the Sun Inn car park to pick up and drop off passengers. The only available bench seating is situated on the opposite side of the road from where residents board and alight the bus.

The provision of a bus shelter in Plaistow will enhance the well-being of elderly residents, as it will offer sheltered seating from inclement weather on the correct side of the road. Users of this bus service have been identified by the Parish Council as in greatest need of support, due to age and their reliance on public transport to access vital services which cannot be met within the village itself. Consequently, the Parish Council is prioritising this shelter in Phase One (1) of the wider Safer Bus Stop Project.

Although the designated bus stop is on the opposite side of the road, the bus in fact uses the Sun Inn car park to pull in off the highway, therefore the shelter will be situated near to where the bus stops. This will offer the greatest support to users, as they will not have to cross the road on a blind bend and dangerous junction. The shelter and car park benefit from an existing pathway (there is also a salt bin at the location to ensure the pathway and shelter are not hazardous during the winter months). This element of Phase One (1) dovetails with the Parish Council’s recent adoption (July 2020) of the BT telephone kiosk, also at the location. The community has requested that it is converted into a book exchange, which will be implemented and managed by the Plaistow Village Trust.

The centre of Plaistow village is in a conservation area; therefore, the shelter has been designed, free of charge, by a local chartered surveyor who specialises in historic and conservation buildings. The shelter has been sympathetically designed to emulate the local style and surrounding buildings, incorporating feather edge weather board, green oak bracing, and plain clay tiled roof.

As part of the Parish wide Safer Bus Stop Project, the Parish Council intends to update existing shelters, or install new ones which are all of the same style and design, in keeping with the rural visual amenity and aesthetic of the Parish, to provide community homogeneity without compromising on safety and functionality.

The grass verge identified as the most suitable location for the shelter is owned by the National Trust (NT). The Parish Council is currently working with the NT and a Lease Agreement has been drafted. The Parish Council is also working with the Local Planning Authority and has been advised that it can take advantage of Permitted Development Rights conferred by Part 12 Class A of the Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015. WSCC’s Highways Department have assessed the site and deem it safe and suitable for a shelter to be located.

The shelter will be built by WSCC’s Communities & Public Protection Directorate volunteer scheme. This specialist team of trained volunteers support communities who wish to undertake locally identified community led projects. The Parish Council will encourage members of the community to join the team and help build this and other shelters in due course. The building material will be responsibly source from local independent businesses. The team have built other bespoke bus shelters within West Sussex and specifically in conservation areas (Rogate, Easebourne and Findon Valley).

The Parish Council organises two (2) community litter-pick/maintenance days each year. The bus shelter will be cleaned as part of these established community events. Any issues arising at other times will be addressed, as necessary. The shelter will be insured by the Parish Council.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this project, please do not hesitate to contact the Parish Clerk, Catherine.

Additionally, if you would like to make representations to Councillors, you are invited to join the full Parish Council meeting at 7:30pm on Wednesday 9th September via Zoom. Please refer to the meeting agenda published on the Parish Council website, or public notice board outside the Winterton Hall for more information. Alternatively, please email the Clerk before 4pm on 9th September, if you wish for any written representation to be read out at the meeting in your absence.

To view the shelter design and location plan, please click on the two 'Download Notice' buttons below.