Plans to turn Hereford's county bus station into a multi-storey car park are back on the table.

True Independents leader Coun Bob Matthews put the proposal to a full meeting of county councillors last Friday.

He said nurses felt “very uncomfortable” about having to walk at night from the County Hospital to the Garrick House car park a kilometre away, where they have permits to park.

“At that time of night there are a lot of people around rather the worse for drink, causing a lot of upset and embarrassment,” he said.

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He said the many emails he had received showed the idea “is what the public and small businesses want”, adding it would provide the council with “a sustainable long-term income stream”.

Seconding the motion, Coun Terry James called it a “win-win”, adding: “This is the only opportunity we will have in the coming 20-50 years of a site where we can do this.”

Non-aligned councillor Jim Kenyon said he had heard of late-night staff taking taxis from the hospital to their cars in Garrick House, which is “not a nice place to go” at night.

The work could be funded by developing the current “huge” Symonds Street (Venns Close) car park for affordable housing, he suggested, and asked for this idea to be included in the current consultation on the city’s masterplan.

Cabinet member for transport Coun John Harrington said this would be “perfectly reasonable”, adding: “We are looking at sites including Merton Meadow for a multi-storey, that would serve the NHS almost as well.”

But local ward councillor Jeremy Milln said the area around the hospital “is already dominated by car parking, with soul-crushing asphalt covering every available space”.

“More parking here would undermine the Wye Valley NHS Trust’s sustainable travel plan and our own climate commitments, and create conflict with pedestrians.”

A better use for the site would be “sensitively designed accommodation for students or nurses”, he added.

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Conservative councillor Carole Gandy said that multi-storey car parks “are not considered by young women as safe for parking at night – they are vulnerable places”.

However the motion was carried by a substantial majority.

A planned multi-storey car park on the site was among a package of developments for the city proposed but abandoned by the previous Conservative council administration.

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