A brand-new toilet block at the top of Bathurst Street, or using the existing facilities at the 1820 Settlers National Monument, have been proposed as solutions to Grahamstown's need for a proper bus terminus.
A brand-new toilet block at the top of Bathurst Street, or using the existing facilities at the 1820 Settlers National Monument, have been proposed as solutions to Grahamstown's need for a proper bus terminus.
Now a Makana councillor has come up with a third idea – using the city's old railway station.
Makana Municipality has long recognised the need for a bus terminus to service the long-distance buses that pass through Grahamstown, travelling along main routes, including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
The practise now is that the buses stop next to the centre island at the top of Bathurst Street, where there are no toilet facilities, and where passengers may be exposed to harsh weather while they wait.
Plans were drawn for a bus terminus, including a shelter and toilet block, to be built at the site, but a permit issued by the Provincial Heritage Resource Agency was found to be invalid and the project screeched to a halt, amid additional objections that the proposed location was near heritage sites – the Anglo Boer War memorial statue and the Commemoration Church.
The issue came up again last week at the municipality's Social Services Portfolio Committee meeting, where a proposal to talk to Transnet about using the old railway station as a bus terminus was accepted.
"What is happening on Bathurst Street is not ideal," said Councillor Les Reynolds, describing the common scenario of three buses in a row, with people huddled in the middle of the road trying to sort out their luggage and climb on board.
Councillor Les Reynolds said few questioned the need for a bus terminus – what was at issue was its location. The dormant train station was ideal for buses, with toilets and a ticket office, and even the right kind of infrastructure for a coffee shop.
"We have a train once in a blue moon," Reynolds said. "I know that it belongs to Transnet, but it can be rented."
While Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart said Transnet had made it clear to them that they [Transnet] could not allow competition to operate in their area, Reynolds said the municipality could not allow that part of town to continue to degenerate.
"We can use it for the benefit of our town. It is the logical place to put the bus shelter," he said, urging that negotiations with the state-owned enterprise be re-opened. Baart supported Reynold's proposal and suggested they might get better results if they first approached the Minister of Transport.
But die-hards in the Council believe the current informal stopping area is the best place, and are still angry about the withdrawal of the permit.
Director of Community and Social Services, Mandisi Planga, said, "We did receive a permit originally, but it was just withdrawn in an email and was not signed. We are dealing with someone that is uncooperative."
Last year, Makana Municipality applied for funding from the Department of Transport and Cacadu District Municipality to build the structure. Once they'd got the money, the municipality submitted an application for a building permit.
At first it was declined because no heritage impact assessment had been done. A second application was then submitted, including the assessment, and the municipality was issued with a permit valid for 12 months, giving the go-ahead to proceed with construction.
But in October 2009, just as tenders were about to be issued, the chairperson of the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Authority, Cameron Dokoda, told them the permit was invalid. Dokoda said this was because of a procedural flaw: The second application should have been an appeal, not an application, he said.
Cacadu District Municipality then withdrew its co-funding and according to a report featured the agenda of last week's meeting, discussions with the Department of Transport suggest that the funding might be lost because of the delays in getting the project off the ground.
Baart said she had explained the situation to the Cacadu District Municipality. She said the Methodist Church was against the project and had challenged the validity of the permit. "That is the fundamental issue," Baart said.
The committee's chairperson, Julia Wells, closed the item, stating that in addition to the negotiations with Transnet, they should simultaneously keep pursuing the question of the permit.
