By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottingham City Council has said its brand new bus station will not be fitted out and begin operating until summer – months after it was originally due to be open.
The Broadmarsh bus station was due to open in Autumn 2021 to coincide with the new 1,200-space Broadmarsh car park, which opened on November 1 last year. The entire build cost around £50m.
But the Labour-run authority told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the final fit-out which allows it to be opened is due to be completed over the summer months.
Nottingham has been without a main bus station since July 2017 while the old car park and bus station were demolished to make way for the new build.
Currently, Trent Barton customers must catch their buses at designated spots in the city including near the train station, while National Express passengers must gather near Loxley House.
The opposition leader of Nottingham Independents, Cllr Kevin Clarke, described the delay as “a shambles” and believes the entire Broadmarsh site is “jinxed”.
Last year, there were concerns the new car park would be under-used as it was designed to serve the new Broadmarsh shopping centre, before former owner intu went bust.
Car users have also expressed concerns over having to loop around the city in order to reach its entrance.
Money is also still being sought to demolish parts of the former Broadmarsh shopping centre to make way for ‘a new vision’ for the site which includes new homes, businesses, and green open space.
The council missed out on Levelling Up funding from the government last year to ensure vital work was carried out on the site and it plans to submit a fresh bid.
The new Central Library – replacing the closed one in Angel Row – has been built at the new Broadmarsh car park and bus station but around £10m is needed to fit it out.
However, Cllr David Mellen, leader of the council, revealed at a full council meeting on Monday, May 9, that he will be bringing a report to the executive board later this month to propose the starting of the fitting out work of the library building.
When asked about when the bus station would open, a city council spokesman said: “Since the construction work on the new building was completed, we’ve been working with National Express and Trent Barton on plans for the ‘fit out’ of the bus station with the infrastructure they need to begin operating services.
“We are expecting National Express to have finished carrying out the work by early summer and Trent Barton by late summer.”
National Express said it did not want to add anything further to the statement while no-one could be reached at Trent Barton for a comment.
Cllr Clarke said: “People have waited too long for a bus station. It is an absolute shambles from the beginning. People are having to walk around to get a bus and there is no strategic pick-up point.
“It’s like everything else at the Broadmarsh. It is like it has some sort of voodoo over it. It’s jinxed.”
