A WELL-USED Ivybridge bus shelter may soon be able to accommodate even more public transport travellers.
The shelter at the popular stop on Leonards Road, close to the petrol station and used car business, is often full to overflowing according to Ivybridge town councillor Tom Bowden.
So Cllr Bowden, who is chair of the town council’s planning commitee, and his colleagues have come up with the idea of using revenue generated by advertising on bus shelters, to extend the Leonards Road shelter.
The town council is paid by Cornish firm Fernbank Advertising for bus shelter ad space, and has nearly £5,000 of the money saved in a special fund.
At last week’s meeting of the full town council, Cllr Bowden asked Devon county councillor Roger Croad if this money could be topped up with county council funds to install a bigger shelter.
And to the surprise of everyone present, Cllr Croad said yes.
Afterwards, Cllr Bowden said: ‘The number of times I’ve gone past that shelter to see lots of people outside – it’s not ideal, especially in this wet weather.
‘But bus shelters are quite expensive, somewhere in the region of £6,000, so we asked Roger Croad to contribute.
‘It’s a question of – what can you do for the greater good of the town. We were looking at putting in a shelter in St Peter’s Way, but insufficient numbers use that stop to justify the expense.
‘At least residents of Ivybridge can see that we’re trying to work for their best advantage, with the limited funds at our disposal.
‘It will probably have to go before the full council to ratify, as it was a planning committee decision, but we’re not anticipating any problems.’