It’s a Win-Win for St Catherine’s Bus Shelter

Published on: 12 Nov, 2023
Updated on: 14 Nov, 2023

Bus passengers travelling to Guildford from St Catherine’s can once again take a seat and shelter from any inclement weather.

The old-style bus shelter on the southern edge of Guildford has been repaired by Guildford Borough Council and the bus stop may soon also be getting a new name.

The wooden shelter in the centre of St Catherine’s “Village” is within the St Catherine’s conservation area but in August it had fallen into a sad state of disrepair culminating in the collapse of the main cross beam at the front of the shelter.

The St Catherine’s bus shelter in disrepair and unsafe following the collapse of the front crossbeam.

Dragon editor and St Catherine’s resident Martin Giles alerted Cllr Angela Goodwin (Lib, Dem, Guildford South West) believing it to be a transport-connected issue and therefore a Surrey County Council responsibility.

But she ascertained this particular shelter was a GBC responsibility and with the approval of ward councillor Tom Hunt (Lib Dem, St Nicolas) council officers cordoned off the unsafe structure and arranged a repair.

Now the shelter has been brought up to scratch with a new beam, missing shingles replaced and damaged weatherboard cladding replaced.

A new beam and shingle replacements.

And another request has started the process for the bus stop to be renamed. Martin Giles said: “It has always struck me as strange that the bus stop was known as ‘The Law College’. It is not in close proximity to the stop, the college has now been renamed the ‘University of Law’ and has announced that it will be relocating to the University of Surrey campus.

An extract from a bus timetable showing the bus stop name currently used

“Perhaps more importantly most passengers who use it are not students but St Catherine’s residents.”

A request to Stagecoach buses was redirected to Surrey County Council and Cllr Matt Furniss (Con, Shalford) said he was happy to say it has been proposed and will be going through the council’s and bus operators’ processes. The new proposed name is “Chestnut Avenue, St Catherine’s”.

Responses to It’s a Win-Win for St Catherine’s Bus Shelter

Mark Stamp Reply

November 12, 2023 at 7:34 pm

Whilst being a great example of how local councillors can quietly get things done for residents, this article demonstrates the absolute madness of the two-tier council system we have. The bus shelter is maintained by GBC but the buses that stop there, the road they use, the pavement those waiting stand on, the majority of the council tax the users of it pay and even the name of it are the responsibility of SCC.

How are we as residents supposed to know who we need to contact or complain to and therefore how we should vote at local elections and how much councillor and officer time is wasted referring issues between the two councils?
John Dawson Reply

November 12, 2023 at 11:35 pm

It’s not on Chestnut Avenue, it’s on the Portsmouth Road. A better name would be just “St Catherine’s Village”
Richard Hawkins Reply

November 14, 2023 at 9:26 am

I totally agree with Mark Stamp’s comments. In addition, if the shelter had been property maintained then the repair executed would never have been required. The main beam has failed due to water ingress due to the missing cedar shingles above.

Retained damp due to excess moss and growth on the shingles will also lead to a significantly reduced life span of the roof and therefore the overall structure.

As Mark states, if we were aware who was responsible and they carried out minor running repairs this significant cost and circus of identifying who to contact could all be avoided.
V McClure Reply

November 15, 2023 at 8:13 am

I was delighted to see that this shelter had been repaired. I was afraid it would be replaced by a functional metal one.