EXCLUSIVE: What's delaying promised £300k Broxden park and ride improvements?

Perth and Kinross Council says it's working to resolve 'a land ownership matter' before it can upgrade the Broxden Park and Ride depot.

Council bosses say a “land ownership matter” is holding up plans for £3000,000 of improvements to the Broxden Park and Ride depot.

Work on upgrading the entrance to the busy site was supposed to start in February.

But seven months on, the works have yet to get under way.

And now campaigners are asking why the project has stalled.

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson told The Courier: “Works to improve access to the Broxden Park and Ride site for buses and coaches will be funded through capital funding provided by the Scottish Government.

“At present the council is working to address a land ownership matter which once resolved would then allow the project to progress as intended.”

It’s the second land ownership wrangle involving Perth and Kinross Council to emerge in recent days.

The Courier revealed last week that residents are caught in the middle of a disagreement between the council and the housebuilder GS Brown Construction over a strip of “no man’s land” in Bridge of Earn.

Entrance upgrade sparked calls for more Broxden Park and Ride improvements

Announcing the Broxden proposals last year, the council said the Park and Ride depot was dealing with 1,944 bus or coach departures every week.

It said it would pay for the upgrade with a £374,000 award from Transport Scotland’s Bus Infrastructure Fund (BIF).

And it said further improvements, including “a redesign of the current layout to provide additional parking spaces,” would be considered after the works were completed and as funding allowed.

Campaigners welcomed the announcement at the time.

But they also called for a wider overhaul of the Park and Ride depot.

Courier readers made plenty of suggestions too.

They said the site needed more spaces, better signposting, safer arrangements for pedestrians, more focus on maintenance AND improvements to the roundabout on Lamberkine Drive.

Broxden Park and Ride campaigner salutes improvements to date

Former Perth and Kinross councillor Willie Wilson has been one of the loudest voices calling for change.

The long-standing chairman of the Viewlands Venture bloom group, says he met council staff last year to discuss a potential facelift for the Broxden park and ride site.

And he says many of the measures he called for have now been put in place.

In particular, he highlighted

• Renewed white lines denoting access points, parking spaces and bus only locations .

• Additional bus pick up/ drop off points, along with a dedicated city centre bus stop.

• Designated space for taxis.

• Internal and external improvements to the waiting room/travel office and toilet building.

• An updated arrivals and departures board providing more up-to-the-minute information.

Mr Wilson says he appreciates the work of council teams who have made this happen.

But he added: “The major issue of improving the road access to the Park and Ride from Broxden Avenue is still outstanding and I have asked when this essential work will be taken forward.

“My understanding is that there a number of technical issues regarding the current access where communication and infrastructure services are located.”

Second land ownership mystery

The Courier revealed last Tuesday that Bridge of Earn residents have spent three years battling to establish who is responsible for a wide path beside the Deich Burn, so they can try to arrange measures to protect against beaver activity.

Official records suggest GS Brown Construction, founded by former St Johnstone owner Geoff Brown, is the landowner.

But the firm insists it transferred the land to the former district council – along with money to pay for its upkeep – when it completed its nearby Balmanno Park development in 1989.

Perth and Kinross Council has maintained the path since then.

But the council says it can’t find any records of the transaction and is now “considering the question of ownership”.