Manchester bus franchising

[Barney]

RE: Manchester bus franchising

(03/01/2023 09:43)moreton407 Wrote:  If Stagecoach own the Wigan depot, they would get a better price for it selling it to a property developer than to another bus operator.

From when it was first mooted, Stagecoach has always opposed the franchising model and fought it in the courts until a judicial review made it clear that it will happen in the TfGM area. I assume that Stagecoach did apply for some, if not all, of the first phase of this process without success and now its continued presence must be in serious doubt.

However, as much as it may like to, I am not so sure that it will be able to sell its Wigan depot to the highest bidder. The change of use of a commercial property to a residential one is fraught with legal difficulties and, apart from anything else, it would require the local authority to grant any developer planning permission which I very much doubt would be granted. Consequently, the property developer/speculator would be left with a bus depot that could only be used as.... a bus depot.