Haliax bus station demolition gets go-ahead and £15m new facility to be built

Calderdale Council’s Planning Committee has given the green light to proposals which will see a new £15 million bus station replace the existing one at Northgate in the town’s centre.

Their decision was unanimous after councillors had asked questions about access for pedestrians and vehicles, the wider role the station will play in cross-promoting public transport, and help given to passengers who might have visual impairments.

Planning officer Anita Seymour said the plans were to demolish the bus station and redevelop the site into a modern one with a much safer layout for vehciles and pedestrians.

There had been no objections to the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) plans and most recently English Heritage, subject to final details, had given its support to the development, which already has Full Business Case approval at West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA)’s West Yorkshire and York Investment Committee.

Utilising a “Y” shaped concourse which will have fully glazed screens and automatic doors linked to induction loops within the bus stand area to protect passengers, the new bus station will have a level access to a single concourse.

WYCA project manager Mark Auger said that with 15,000 passengers using 800 bus movements a day from the station, the new design aimed to encourage people onto public transport, bringing congestion and environmental benefits.

It would include better retail facilities including a newsagent and a cafe and better signage carrying travel information including about train times – Calderdale Council wants to encourage better connectivity between the public transport modes serving the town.

Coun Paul Bellenger (Lib Dem, Greetland and Stainland) queried the single width egress as it might result in a build up of buses wanting to leave the concourse at roughly the same time, but officers said traffic lights regulating exit worked on sensors and would be programmed to account for that.

Architect Alistair Branch said: “We have designed the development to cater for future capacity and demand while being sensitive to heritage assets retained on the site.”

Coun Colin Hutchinson (Lab, Skircoat) asked about wider availability to passengers of bus time information, particularly at the rail station but also in offices and places like the new Trinity Sixth Form Centre, which also at Northgate.

Mr Auger said the intention was to provide as much information as possible although this was not always in the authority’s gift.