New bus stop would drive us away from our homes

Pensioners claim plans would cut parking spaces

- BY PAUL FAULKNER

Stourton Street in Rishton, where there are plans to turn a lay-by into a school bus stop

ELDERLY residents of a street in Hyndburn say they face losing vital parking spaces close to their homes as a result of plans to turn a lay-by into a school bus stop.

Pensioners living on Stourton Street in Rishton claim that the rule change would force them to park further from their own front doors than some of them could walk while carrying shopping.

However, they also say they are being driven out of the parking spots by what they believe is a senseless revamp designed to accommodate coaches that would struggle to get down the road in the first place.

Under a blueprint drawn up by Lancashire County Council, the near 50-metre long lay-by, outside Hyndburn Academy, will become a designated ‘bus stand’ on weekdays between 8am and 6pm - with no other vehicles permitted to park in the cutout during those hours. The only other available parking is on the road itself, directly in front of the houses on the street.

A couple that lives in one of the dwellings said that the extra capacity currently provided by the lay-by helps ensure they can still park relatively close to their properties when they return home having been out for part of the day.