Fears Royal Mail dispute could delay 3.5m Rawtenstall bus station

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Construction cannot start until a road closure order around the Kay Street delivery office is granted

A dispute over plans to ‘stop up’ town centre roads could further delay construction of the new £3.5 million bus station, it has been revealed.

Demolition work in Rawtenstall town centre has been completed but there are fears that an ongoing legal wrangle with Royal Mail over a proposed ‘Stopping Up Order’ to close roads around their delivery office on Kay Street could jeopardise the timetable of the ambitious Spinning Point project.


Work was due to begin on the bus station after the refit of the Old Town Hall is completed in April next year, but it cannot start until the government grant the stopping up of North Street, west of Kay Street, part of Lord Street and part of James Street.

No application has so far been submitted while Rossendale Council attempt to negotiate with Royal Mail to resolve their objections, which the council say hinge on concerns of delays to deliveries.

Even if the objections are resolved, it will still take up to five months for an order to be processed and approved, according to the government.

Regeneration chief Councillor Andy MacNae told the Free Press that finding a solution to the objections was ‘at the top of their list’ of priorities to prevent the construction of the bus station being held back.

He said: “Clearly we don’t want that to happen. We are still in the window of where we expect to be with it all but that’s something we need to resolve.

“I think it is already right at the top of the list so we are not underestimating the importance of it, but if it wasn’t sorted by the end of this month it would be a far more serious concern.”

Coun MacNae added that three options were being proposed that could resolve Royal Mail’s concerns.

He said: “It’s moving really quickly, it’s an ongoing negotiation back and forth but I think there is a solution in place that seems to work for everyone.”

“It’s a really complex negotiation – it’s not quite Brexit but it’s quite complicated. Both parties are being pretty strong.”

Council bosses say that they want to address all objections before submitting an application to avoid a potential lengthy and costly public inquiry.

The bus station is due to open in autumn next year.

Once an order is applied for, there is a 28-day consultation period for interested parties to lodge their objections.

When objections cannot be resolved, the Secretary of State may require a public inquiry to be held to fully consider the objections prior to making a decision.

Rossendale MP Jake Berry said he was pleased that work was ‘finally starting’ in the town centre to regenerate Rawtenstall, but that the prospect of more delays was ‘incredibly frustrating’.

He said: “Rawtenstall’s bus station project has suffered many delays so I’m not really that surprised to hear about another one. What makes this so annoying is that matters such as ‘stopping up orders’ should have been sorted months if not years ago.

“I’ve contacted Rossendale Borough Council to offer my help to try and resolve these issues to ensure that the vital redevelopment of Rawtenstall can continue on plan.”


Acting Rossendale Conservative opposition leader Coun Annabel Shipley said that the negotiations for the order should have been resolved before the project work began.

She said: “Why was this not in place beforehand, and why was there no plan B in place for the scenario that looks like it’s going to pan out now? It’s bad organisation and incompetence and it’s going to be the tax payer that’s picking up the bill.”


A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Whilst we are unable to share specific details of the discussions we have had with Rossendale Borough and its development partner, Barnfield, we can confirm that our objection to the Stopping Up Order is still in place.

“We will continue to work with all parties involved to ensure all our concerns have been fully explored.”

Demolition of the police station and town hall extension has now been completed.