ALTON Station’s forecourt steamed into the spotlight as scores of folk travelled to Alton Assembly Rooms to view a plan to improve the area.

The station is a key ‘gateway’ into the town and to the South Downs National Park, but is seen as unattractive and not very user friendly. East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) commissioned Havant Borough Council to investigate how best to improve its forecourt as an extension of Hampshire County Council’s eastern gateway project, which seeks to connect the station with the town centre by highlighting a clearly signed route.

At the station itself, improvements to the forecourt have been designed “to achieve an attractive and more efficient arrival destination for visitors and local people by improving pedestrian and cycle access, ensuring bus services are accessible and clearly signed, car parking arrangements are appropriate, and that vehicle flow around the forecourt is clear and uninhibited”.

It is also hoped that these measures will “improve the desirability of the area as a business location.”

Welcoming the EHDC Masterplan, Friends of Alton Station chairman Stephen Lewis told the Herald: “The existing station forecourt is not a good advert for Alton, especially for people arriving on the Mid Hants Watercress Line, so something needs to be done.

“The EHDC proposal offers a better layout for the car park and improved routes for pedestrians and cyclists. When combined with the linked works to improve traffic flow and pedestrian access in Paper Mill Lane, including the proposed new steps down to the road, it will be a huge safety improvement.”

Mr Lewis fears that it may take some time put in place the £425,000-£465,000 needed to complete the project, and ATC should not have to find all of the cash, he said.

“Alton station is a transport hub used by people travelling by train, bus and taxi, including tourists and day-trippers.

“It is vital that the forecourt area is improved as part of a wider process of gradually investing in the infrastructure of the town, and we feel SWT and Network Rail ought to contribute in some way.”

The project is to be financed in part by a £150,000 contribution from supermarket Waitrose, allocated as a condition of a planning application, to help mitigate the impact of its development by delivering improvements to the station forecourt area.

While EHDC has identified two possible future sources of funding - £148,000 from the Chandos Lodge development and £150,000 from HCC, when it will arrive is unclear, so the aim will be to split the project into three phases.

Phase one is expected to focus on widening the existing footway from Station Road to Waitrose, with the introduction of dropped curbs and improved crossing points. And on the opposite side of the station the long awaited reconstruction of the Paper Mill Lane steps, to render them more user friendly, will take place.

Phase two will embrace improved pedestrian and cycle access from Paper Mill Lane and the smartening up of the forecourt area, where the emphasis will be on disposing of unnecessary bollards, bus stop poles and street furniture.

Importantly, Phase three will see changes to the main car park, where it a clearer layout of correctly sized spaces is proposed, although it would have a slightly reduced capacity which, together with the removal of the perimeter boundary rail, and relocation of existing lighting and CCTV columns, should improve the area for pedestrians.

This would also facilitate an extension of the footway from Station Road to the forecourt.

Longer term, and subject to the outcome next month of the new franchise agreement, it is hoped SWT (or its successor) may consider the construction, subject to planning permission, of a decked car park, but there is as yet no firm proposal for this and no definite timeframe.

As the majority of the project proposals fall within land currently under the control of SWT owned by Network Rail, all works would need their agreement. And SWT has stipulated there it requires there to be no loss of overall parking capacity.

While the plan would result in the removal of 19 end-on parking spaces outside Waitrose, because the carriageway would be narrowed to accommodate the footpath, and the removal of other on-street parking bays around the perimeter of the car park and along the Paper Mill Lane entrance to the station, 17 new parallel parking bays would be created in Station Road. In addition, the aim is to encourage greater use of the overflow parking area behind Waitrose and, subject to negotiation, of short term bays adjacent to the café.

There would also be improved parking for motor cycles and pedal cycles, with virtually unchanged provision for disabled vehicles, drop-off and taxis.

Anyone who wishes to discuss these proposals, or other issues concerning Alton station, should attend the Friends of Alton Station annual meeting at Alton Community Centre on October 13 at 8pm.