Mayor defends bus station closure communications

The bus station was closed in January after concrete fell into the car park underneath the building

West Yorkshire's mayor has defended the handling of Bradford Interchange's future amid months of uncertainty.

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) meeting was told that the closed station could finally reopen in early 2025 – over a year after it was shut for safety reasons.

The news was welcomed, but some Bradford councillors claimed communication from the combined authority since the closure had been "shocking".

Mayor Tracy Brabin said the "silence" had been due to surveys on the structure taking time.

The bus section of the Interchange was closed for safety reasons in early January after concrete fell from a section of the structure.

The closure left Bradford without a functioning bus station, with routes starting and terminating at stops spread around the city centre.

The bus station could reopen in January, 12 months after it first closed

Brabin said: “The silence was not out of any desire to keep people out of the process, the surveys that were needed took time.

"There was no point in repeatedly saying, ‘we’re still waiting'."

She continued: “We were as frustrated as you, but the safety of the public needed to be our number one focus.

“I once again apologise to the people who use the Interchange for all the disruption.”

Surveys on the bus station have been taking place for several months, with Thursday’s meeting of the combined authority hearing the station could reopen if certain measures were put in place.

These included regular inspections and safety netting in the area where the concrete fell in late December.

But a report to members acknowledged the 1970s-built station was coming to the end of its operating life.

Mayor Brabin said public safety had been WYCA's "number one focus"

Bradford council leader Susan Hinchcliffe told the meeting: “When the news came out that the Interchange could reopen there was a collective sigh of relief that the end was in sight and it would reopen - the key question now is when and how quickly.”

An exact timetable, costs and what the reopening would look like would not be announced until shortly before the next meeting in late October, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Rebecca Poulsen, Conservative leader on Bradford Council, said: "The communication has been shocking.

"In future can we have proper communications about decisions that impact the people of Bradford?”

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