(a)

proposals for Bretonside bus station consisted of a £42m cinema and mixed use Drakes Circus Leisure development; this was announced in March 2014 at a Cabinet meeting;

(b)

the Drakes Circus Leisure development would consist of a 12 screen Cineworld cinema including one IMAX screen, 14 restaurant or leisure units, 424 car parking spaces and the creation of a high quality public realm in Exeter Street and Bretonside;

(c)

to support the Drake Circus development the current transport facilities at Bretonside bus station needed to be relocated including scheduled coach services, visitor coaches, local bus services and lorry parking;

(d)

with regards to the new coach station location, in 2009 a feasibility study was undertaken to assess the best location within the city; a series of options were investigated and the preferred locations were Bretonside, the Civic Centre and the Mayflower West car park. As the first two are now to be developed Mayflower West car park was identified as the location for the new bus station. It has good access for coaches from Western Approach and provides good access to the city centre and west end;

(e)

it was expected that the outline design and public consultation for the proposed coach hub would be undertaken in Summer 2014 and that the planning application would be submitted in the Autumn of 2014;

(f)

approximately 200,000 passengers used the current bus station at Bretonside every year however passengers were faced with potential problems due to the location of the site, the lack of a clear pedestrian route out of the bus station as well as the stepped access to the site. The site was considered to be larger than required;

(g)

plans for the new coach hub included 7 coach bays, one layover to support future capacity for growth, passenger drop-off facilities, a ticket office  and external and internal waiting facilities; the area would also be landscaped with living walls;

(h)

the Council had recently purchased Taylor Maxwell House in which the ground floor of the building would be used as a ticket office and waiting room; a café facility would be provided in this part of the building, possibly via a newsagents.

(i)

Plymouth City Council owned the land that the new coach station was due to be situated on;

(j)

it was expected that traffic signals would be installed to allow coaches to gain access both in and out of the coach station;

(k)

a living wall , high quality paving, appropriate lighting and public art are all being considered for the Cornwall Street entrance to the coach station to improve its appearance and provide a welcoming entrance;

(l)

it was not expected that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.