Disappointed councillors have questioned whether it is time their town leaves the national park after controversial plans to knock down a bus station to make way for flats were approved. Green councillors from Lewes said they were horrified that Lewes Bus Station will now be demolished and replaced with 35 new homes after the South Downs National Park Authority gave the scheme the go-ahead on Thursday . The station, in Eastgate Street, has been closed for more than a year and East Sussex County Council will provide alternative bus facilities.
These will include two bus stops with shelters and real-time passenger information on the southern side of The Causeway. And there will be a further three bus stops, with shelters, real-time information, a kiosk and toilet facilities, on the northern side of The Causeway. But councillors say the new provision could be dangerous and that the community has been let down.
“This is the third time The Generator Group has put forward an application for housing on this site,” said Green East Sussex county councillor Wendy Maples. “And now they finally have their way. The national park has missed a golden opportunity to reject this over-development and to support the bus station.
“Instead, it has voted in favour of a dangerous bus interchange alternative on either side of a busy road outside of the town centre. It is a desperately sad day for the future of Lewes.” Lewes Town Council was among the objectors to the proposals.
Green town .