Birmingham planning team help Slough Bus Station achieve planning
The Birmingham planning team for Drivers Jonas has achieved planning permission on behalf of client Slough Borough Council for an eye catching new bus station in Slough. The scheme will kick-start long-awaited regeneration in the town as part of the £400 million ‘Heart of Slough’ project designed to revamp Slough’s town centre through major mixed use development including offices, residential, leisure, and a new library.
The new bus station is the first of a number of key developments to be brought forward within the Heart of Slough masterplan area which covers 11.75 ha of land in the town centre mainly owned by the Borough Council and Thames Valley University.
Replacing Slough’s outdated 1970’s Brunel Bus Station, the new bus station, designed by Bblur architecture, is so iconic that it has already been shortlisted for the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, the largest open submission contemporary art exhibition in the world.
Comprising a unique 140 metre feature length canopy, the new bus station will incorporate operational facilities and passenger waiting areas in a total area of 450 sq m. This will include 10 bus bays, three layover spaces and associated bus stands for First Bus, alongside enhanced passenger facilities including waiting rooms, a coffee shop, newsagents, toilet facilities and cycle stands. The station will also provide a new sheltered pedestrian route between the railway station and the town centre.
Planners at Drivers Jonas worked hard to achieve planning approval for the innovative scheme. The lengthy process involved close liaison with officers at Slough Borough Council, various consultees and stakeholders, and Development Securities who are bringing forward a major office scheme on an adjoining site to the bus station, through which the bus station’s canopy will extend.
“We are delighted to have successfully achieved planning approval on behalf of Slough Borough Council on a project where we have clearly demonstrated our capability in driving schemes located outside of the Midlands,” commented Mathew Jones, planning partner for Drivers Jonas Birmingham. “The application received unanimous approval at Committee following a number of months of proactive engagement with key consultees and other interested parties to resolve all issues on this complex and high profile project. The bus station will provide a new landmark for Slough and one which we believe will be an important catalyst for further regeneration within the town centre.”
Demolition of the existing bus station will start later this year with construction work starting on the new station in early 2010.
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