“Having just visited this wonderful new enhancement to our City for the first time, in order to drop off an elderly relative returning home with heavy suitcase and bag, I must say I was underwhelmed. There was NO road signage to the Bus Station at all. I eventually found short term car parking under the cockpit car park "bridge" which is way too far from the coach station concourse and unsigned too. It had parking limited to 30 mins with a ticket which you buy from a non-existent machine. You then have to find your way across the main vehicular entrance to the station, running the gauntlet of the buses and coaches which are already doing incredibly tight manoeuvres to navigate their way in. They could do without elderly pedestrians throwing themselves under their wheels I'm sure. This all under the very obvious pressure of knowing the coach leaves at a fixed time and will not wait for you - no doubt like the buses but of course the wait till the next bus is much less. At 1pm (the coach due to depart at 1.10pm) the concourse was PACKED. There were mulitple queues in different bays completely blocking the concourse so that you couldn't get through, esp if you had trolley luggage. And when you get to the other end of the building having inconvenienced all the poor souls waiting (note standing - not seated) you find the bay for your coach is out in the open, exposed to the elements - and is not marked with a number like all the other bays.
I'm afraid I'm not a moaning minnie but I am astounded at the design features of this building - it has clearly opened way too early because it just isn't finished and it has clearly not been designed for the most obvious of users. There isn't sufficient seating or standing space for the bus capacity at peak times and that is just BASIC.

The majority of people will of course just put up with it. And those officers responsible will get promoted in the City Council, if they haven't already been!”

“This grotesque steel building adjacent to the appalling car park and the horrible Westfield centre vies with the airport hangar, the Rumanian tower block and the OK corral on the County ground for sheer ugliness, but someone has made lots of money out of destroying the city. The area around the Bus staion looks like a giant chemical plant.”

“The emphasis by the developer has always been on the commercial use of the site, that is a casino, bars and hotels. If it wasn't for the constant complaints by Derby people about the need for a bus tation we'd never have had one. The bus station is only about a quarter of the size of what was really needed. We are already seeing problems over certain services not using the station. As to the appearence of the station, I overheard a group of people who'd just got off a bus at the new station and were waiting or the Ashbourne bus, one said "what a dull looking town, all that steel and little windows, looks like a prison town"! Ah welll first impressions?
As to the Moreledge, the buildings date from the late 1700s to the mid 1970s, quite a wide range of architecture. The Council has applied for grants and have received them, and will be spending aroud £3 million on refurbishing the old shop fronts and re-paving the whole area. This is all on the notice board outside the Crown Court.

Open squares and Pazas with open air dining were introduced during the 1960s, tried out with Duckworth Square and Caslefields Main Centre - all now gone (old ideas tried and failed). The new age is for restoration in order to boost the tourism industry, and the Council is spending millions of Lottery money doing this all around the city centre.”

“Oh you have me so wrong, I said it would be nice, to flatten the moreledge area, as YOU have to admit the shops there are Awful, full of old fashioned 1960's buildings, dirty looking Kebab shops etc,,, and make this into a nice square with open seating and cafes, how wonderful that would be, no mention of a Grey box ?”

“Micheal. Yeh .... you're correct. Lets just flatten the whole town centre and have one massive grey box so people can trudge around buying stuf they dont need on credit cards, just to make themselves feel better and fill a void in their own lives.”

“Well i cant beleive some of the comments here.
I have just been to the Bus station myself this morning to have a look around.
It is wonderful, Clean, Modern and looks well organised.
I guess my only gripe is the Toilet fee, that is BAD.
I feel when all the work is done, the hotels etc it will be lovely and really puts other cities to shame.
I do have one other Gripe though as when you do leave the Bus station the Moreledge is Awful, the whole lot from the Millets building to the old shop on the corner, the old sport shop should be flattened and be made into a large square with seating and cafe style plaza, now that would be nice.”

“This style of bus station is fine if you've not got a lot to do in the day, But the thought of having to make my way over there after 9 hours at work, fighting my way through shoppers doesn't fill me with glee . Id rather wait in the street and get a bit of fresh air (and iv done my fair share) instead of being trapped inside Westfield No2.”

“Well after 5 years of waiting for the much announced bus station I have not gained anything. I still have to wait on the street and face the elements. Neither my home bus or work bus use the bus station, As for the toilets I think it a disgrace that they charge 20p.”

“I doubt if this 'eyesore' will last longer than our old Art Deco station.”

“Gordon Bennett. It's only been open a week and people complain about the lack of a shop. I don't know about others, but the only reason I go to any bus station is to catch a bus. We had one reader last week complaining that he couldn't pick his daughter up from the bus station due to the lack of car access. Why could she not arrive on one bus then catch another home? Or is that too easy to understand??”