Who will take on this bus shelter?

Who will look after a bus shelter on that borders the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin council areas was discussed at a meeting this week.

Jenna Munday, town clerk at Broseley Town Council, said that Telford & Wrekin Council has confirmed it is the the legal owners of the asset in Calcutts Road, near Jackfield.

“However, because it’s on our land, they are stating they don’t mind renovating it and getting it to a decent standard, but they then want to either pass the asset on to either ourselves or The Gorge [Parish Council], or if nobody wants to take ownership of it, it will be removed,” said Mrs Munday, who added that she has discussed the issue with the clerk at The Gorge Parish Council but had not received a response.

“We were going back and forth anyway to see if they could possibly replace the window, but they’ve been reluctant to,” said Mrs Munday.

“I would not know if they would want to take on the responsibility.

Councillor Simon Harris said it is a ‘convenient time’ to take on the asset.

“The corner of the road is owned by us, is looked after by us, and there is a ‘Welcome to Broseley’ placard next to it,” he said.

“It’s an ideal time, as the tourist area starts building up again, that we can advertise Broseley using the bus stop.”

Councillor Caroline Bagnall, the new Mayor of Broseley, added: “I think it’s a good point that we can use it as an advertising base, and it will be lovely to advertise that we’ve got a lovely market. If we had some sort of notice board there, we can put up posters.”

However, Councillor Mark Garbett asked who would ensure that the shelter was fully safe.

“None of us are qualified or specialists in how it should be safe,” he said.

“There might be something in the bus stop that has been patched up but is not safe. I’m not saying anyone will do a bad job, but if anything is wrong with it and we don’t identify it and something happens, we then become liable.”

Mrs Jenna said she will ask Telford & Wrekin Council for a full specification of what is being proposed, and provide an update at next month’s meeting.

She added that she can seek reassurance from insurers, and if the town council does take it on, choose which contractor does the work.

Pic: The bus shelter in Calcutts Road, near Jackfield by Google