Bognor Station - in Need of TLC!

Award

1.  Arun Council and Southern Railways

The square in front of Bognor Railway station was created just a few years back - part of regeneration to turn the area from a row of shoddy-looking run-down shops to the area they have just taken apart, with all the mature trees.  

Some will recall that the station facade was given a treatment, to upgrade it, after local people had got the station 'listed'.   The work, therefore, was purely cosmetic.   When it was struck the day after the official 'opening', many of us suggested it was the Hand of God .... even He was exasperated nothing was being done the that station inside.   Neglect and a waste of opportunity.    

So we now have a building site, for the square ... Arun says it does not know, this is the response to the Bognor Regis Daily Post from Southern's Press Office:  "Yes, we do have plans for the station itself, but these are very much in the design/feasibility stage at the moment so we don’t have anything yet to go public with. However, once we do, I’ll ensure you get the info in good time."

So will there be another incarnation for our station square but nothing for the place where many people first "see" Bognor?   A fine Victorian station building allowed to rot, with NOTHING for customers bar a small cafe, and a bookstall whose staff deserve medals for the fact they are there  spring, summer, autumn and winter in such a cold hole.

The old railway club - deserted since they were evicted a few years back bar the short period of the tasty steak bar.  The market area, deserted.   The main concourse, leaks in the canopy, cold and damp.

That building is full of potential, it needs to be integral to the town centre regeneration, a place that says this is a town worth visiting and (not to put to fine a point on it) spending your money in and coming back to, often.

Let us hope that when we see Southern's plans they will be 'up to the mark' not a downgrade.   This station serves a Seaside Destination, it needs a proper treatment, given the rail and human traffic it accommodates, with hourly services to and from London direct.

This would be an ideal base for an eye-catching, tourist attracting project, such as The Bognor Regis Museum of Entertainment and Comedy.

Also, terminus for steam-drawn trains down the beautiful Arun Valley Line, from Horsham!  Such trains have visited Bognor, it can be done.