Picklesdad asked a good question on Saturday as we narrowly avoided being flattened by a speeding bus in St Andrews Street outside The Cattle Market Development. Why build a huge bus station and still have 2 bus stops so close by in a street more suitable for pedestrians?

I think it makes some sense – you want bus stops as close as possinle to the main shopping centre and if busses are going up St Andrews Street past the Cattle Market development (it is also a shorter route through town) why not have them stop there? If you are weighed down with shopping bags it is probably welcome. The other thing to remember is that the bus station needs to be central for ease of access but isn’t just for the small buses that serve the town – larger coaches going much longer distances also arrive and depart from there.

You wider point, about getting mowed down, is a valid one and I am not entirely happy with the way St Andrews Street, between the Cattle Market and existing town centre, works – pedestrians are eased into thinking it is pedesrianised . The police have had a bit of a purge on this I think, so it may well have improved in the last few weeks.

Norwich and Cambridge both have bus stations on the edge of the main shopping area and people seem to cope and their shopping areas are much bigger than Bury's!

I think the major distinction between Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge or Norwich is the nature of the town centre. Both are largely pedestrianised (or moving that way), with expensive and reasonably scarce central parking and Park & Ride systems. Ultimately Bury may move in that direction but, at the moment, people expect to be able to have easy vehicular access to the town centre. Put simply: people aren't used to walking and don't much like the idea of doing so!