Shortlands and Park Langley Ward Councillor, Gemma Turrell, has called on Transport for London (TfL) to change two bus stop names to include ‘Shortlands Village’ in their names.
This follows a successful bid by ward colleagues, Councillors Felicity Bainbridge and Adam Grant, for new street furniture and planters for the village, funded through Bromley Councils Local Shopping Parade Improvement Fund and a contribution from the Residents Associations.
London Assembly Member for Bexley and Bromley, Thomas Turrell, has raised the request for a bus stop name change on Gemma’s behalf. Gemma has asked that Meadow Road and Valley School stops be named as a Meadow Road – Shortlands Village and Valley School – Shortlands Village respectively.
Gemma said that this will better reflect the nature of the stops location and ensure both sides have some consistency in their naming. This is supported by local residents. At present Meadow road is only the stop name as the bus heads into Beckenham, whereas the stop name is Valley School is the stop name towards Bromley.
Felicity has also written to Network Rail to ask for the leak under Shortlands bridge to be fixed and the Shortlands sign to be re-painted. The mural was installed in 2019 and has been since been damaged by the ongoing leak.
Gemma said: “As a frequent user of both bus stops, it has always struck me as odd that Shortlands Village does not feature in the name of any local bus stops. Shortlands Village has many local businesses and is a stones throw away from Queensmead Recreation Ground, and it is my firm my belief that the village should be recognised in the bus stop names. For people new to the area, or passing through, having stops with different stop names depending on the direction (despite being on the same street) can also be quite confusing so this very simple changed also has the added benefit of helping making the bus network easier to navigate.”